Chapter 55: The Wubei Merit Market

"Well, there is one I know of. Do you know the Wubei Merit Market?"

Cao Yun was surprised because he never read this name in any pamphlet he had been given. Seeing his face, Guo Lüye knew he was ignorant of the matter.

"This is an unofficial market founded by the outer disciples. Instead of buying with money, you can buy by using your merit points. The Wubei Sect allows outer disciples to exchange their merit points for other goods or services. To be accepted, this market had to adhere to certain rules. The ones who originally founded it was my faction, the Dragon's Fire Faction.

At first, it was specifically aimed at selling pills but now you can find many things. The rules state that anyone can sell any product as long as they don't lie on their real value. Of course, only my faction ever sells pills there."

"Can any disciple go there?"

"Oh, yes! No matter your year, you may go buy anything. It's just that you're lacking in merit points. And if you exchange the few points you have, you'll lose access to many facilities and your resources at the end of the month will be reduced."

"Senior Sister Guo, if you talk about this market, it means there is a Praying Demon Pill there, right?"

"Indeed, but its price should be around 500 points. And if I remember right you should have..."

"283 points." Cao Yun reminded her before she could remember herself.

"Well, it's truly lacking... If you were in a bigger faction, you could ask for a loan, but the Heavenly Swallow Faction is still rather poor." She was a little too obvious when she tried to recruit Cao Yun. And this was not the first time.

"Wait, couldn't I sell my pills to earn these points?"

As soon as she heard this, Guo Lüye's face changed. "Well, technically you could... But you really shouldn't."

"Why not? Because of the Dragon's Fire Faction."

Before answering, Guo Lüye looked everywhere and got closer to Cao Yun.

"My faction is the only one who ever sells pills. Even the other three biggest factions give them the pills they want to sell. In exchange they get a commission on the sale. If you try to sell any pill without their approval, you'll probably get into trouble. I don't like to speak ill of my own faction, but they're really vicious when it comes to their business. Most factions don't want to offend them because they'll become great alchemists later."

"But, I could imitate them, sell my pills through the Dragon's Fire and get a commission, right?"

Once again, she looked around and got even closer, some people could even think that she was trying to kiss him.

"I heard that my faction really wants to recruit you. As you probably know, I'm hinting at it quite a lot." Yes, she had not been subtle about that from the beginning. "So, they will probably not help you at all. If you see that you can't get any merit point in the Heavenly Swallow Faction, it would maybe push you into their ranks. And now that you're officially an alchemist, they'll want that even more."

Well, Cao Yun did not want any conflict with the factions as they could make his time here harder. In which case, his cultivation would probably slow down. But he needed this pill to speed up his cultivation, so it would almost be the same result after all.

"Thank you, Senior Sister, for being so honest with me. I'll go see the Wubei Merit Market first. Then I think I'll still try to negotiate with the Dragon's Fire Faction. With a good enough deal, they may accept to help me out, we'll see."

"I'm not optimistic about it, but you can always try..."

-

In a secluded part of the outer yard, Cao Yun found the place Guo Lüye had talked about. This was out in the open. Tens of people had set up stands or just put blankets on the ground to present different products. You could find weapons, scrolls, paintings, all kinds of art, and pills.

On the stands, the prices went from 5 points to 1,200 points. It was bustling with life as many disciples were trying to buy some things. There were even many inner disciples there. Outer disciples could not go into the inner yard, but the inner disciples could come to the outer yard. This market was located precisely near the border between the two yards, for this very reason. That way, they could expand their customers.

In the sect, points were more important than money because it allowed you to gain access to more privileges. Within the sect, as long as you had the right amount of points, you were given new rights. But, here, you had to spend your points to obtain something.

All the products here were either original works you couldn't buy with money or products that were very expensive outside. First-years could not leave the sect but the other disciples could. So, if you were part of a faction, you could always ask your seniors to go buy you something from the outside. Hence, this market mostly dealt with products made by the disciples themselves that you rarely saw outside or whose price was too high.

Browsing through this market, Cao Yun finally found it, the Praying Demon Pill. As all pills here, it was sold by the Dragon's Fire Faction. Its price was 499 points, 1 point shy from the dreaded 500 points he had heard about.

"Oh? Brother is interested in this pill? You have good eyed." A tall woman was managing this part of the stand.

She quickly saw the emblems on Cao Yun's chest and changed her way of speaking.

"Fellow alchemist, I know this price is very high but this Praying Demon Pill is a true treasure. You'll never find one outside, no matter how much you pay. It's been refined by our faction leader, a Mortal Warrior. He's not yet a 1-star Human alchemist but he's very close. This pill has 83% purity."

Someone whispered something in her ear.

"If Alchemist Chen is in need of such a pill, you could maybe directly talk with our faction leader, Wen Zhu. I'm sure he could help you."

"Thank you, Sister. I'll browse through the market a little bit more, but I'll be sure to take you up on that offer."

"Perfect, I'll warn Faction Leader Wen immediately. Just go to our faction residence when you're done."

Cao Yun already knew that this Wen Zhu probably wanted to recruit him in exchange for this pill. After all, he had connections with Xiao Xuefeng and was now officially an alchemist. He could not accept but maybe he could come up with a way to pay for this pill.

He quickly looked at the other pills to get a good idea of the prices. The Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills were sold for 20 points. All of them were guaranteed Perfect. Finding Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills outside was not that difficult, but they most likely wouldn't reach the Perfect stage all the time.

Having a Perfect Low-Level Qi Gathering Pill was of course superior to an inferior one. Indeed, each pill consumed brought toxins in the body. Usually, the person would naturally eliminate the toxins, but they could not consume too many pills because of this. If the toxins accumulated, then it could lead to various problems. Thus, consuming a pill with more medicinal essence was always better. And concerning the Low-Level Qi Gathering Pill, the difference in effect was really important. For example, compared to a Perfect one, a Pure pill was at least 10% more potent.

Right now, Cao Yun had ten Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills. Half of them were Perfect, so it made 100 points. Then he could probably sell the Pure ones for 50% more, 30 points, so 120 points. Finally the True Essence one was really a pill you would never find easily, so he could probably push the price up to 70 to 80 points by comparing with the other pills sold here. If he added everything with the most conservative estimate, his pills were worth 290 points.

If he made another batch, he could maybe directly exchange them for the Praying Demon Pill without needing to sell anything himself. With some luck, he could even make another True Essence pill.

Browsing through the market he discovered that there were also some alchemical ingredients. They were not rare at all but very cheap. The sect could give points if you brought back ingredients. But it didn't mean that they would simply take everything. Thus, some disciples decided to also sell the ingredients they were left with in exchange for points.

These ingredients were very cheap compared to their real market price. But merit points were much more precious than money to the disciples, so it was to be expected.

By looking through all the ingredients, Cao Yun realized that he could buy enough to make ten Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills for 30 points. So the Dragon's Fire Faction made 17 points of profit on each pill. That was a big margin. But they had no competition in the pill selling business so they could set the price as they saw fit.

-

When he was done, Cao Yun did not wait any longer and went to the Dragon's Fire Faction residence.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Senior Wen Zhu, I was told he would expect me."

The guard sized him up and let him in. Just as he entered the residence, he saw that it was at least ten times larger than the Heavenly Swallow Faction. From what he knew, this faction had around 50 members. There were also some alchemists in the other factions, but most of them joined the Dragon's Fire Faction.

A servant guided Cao Yun toward a large room where a man of about 25 was waiting. He seemed pretty effeminate with a slender body and very delicate hands holding a cup of tea. His face looked like a porcelain with deep green eyes and pure black hair tied up high.

"Junior Brother Chen, it's so nice to finally meet you, take a sit."

"Thank you, Senior Wen."

As the servant poured him a cup of tea on the side, Cao Yun took place around the table.

"Senior Wen should know why I'm here."

"Oh, yes, I heard about this Praying Demon Pill. But let's leave the business for an instant. I haven't congratulate you on your achievement yet. I heard that you were a complete novice in alchemy when you came in our sect and yet here you are. In less than two weeks, you became a 1-star Earth alchemist, congratulations. It seems like Elder Xiao can really pick geniuses anywhere she goes.

It's a pity you lack points. With your attainment in alchemy, I'm sure you could earn enough to buy the pill you want. But you also lack the proper tools. You need 500 points to earn the most basic of furnace and cauldron. Brother Chen, you should really think about joining a faction that would allow you to flourish."

Of course, Cao Yun was expecting Wen Zhu to try and recruit him.

"Senior Wen, I'm moved by your kind words. It is true that I lack points, so I would like to request a favor from you." He took out some of his Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills, one Pure and two Perfect ones. "Would it be possible for the Dragon's Fire Faction to buy my pills for half the market price?"

Wen Zhu examined the pills. "These are very well made. I imagine this is how you passed the qualification test, it's a very common pill to pass the first test indeed. But I'm sorry, Brother Chen, I'm afraid I can't. You see, we already have deals in place with other factions to buy the few pills their alchemists forge. And the deal we passed with them forbids us from dealing with individuals. And sadly, we have no deal with the Heavenly Swallow Faction."

"But now that the Heavenly Swallow Faction has an alchemist, you could potentially make a deal with us as well."

"I'm afraid that I would need the cooperation of our current partners to do so. And they seem really intent on pressuring this poor Heavenly Swallow Faction."

If you believed the words and the attitude of Wen Zhu, he really was trying hard but the circumstances just would not allow him to do as he pleased. Cao Yun knew the truth of course, he wanted to push him to join his faction. In his speech, not only did he give himself a good role, but the other factions were all bullies as well.

"Then, I have another proposition. If you cannot buy my pills, could you let me sell them? I heard that anyone can sell anything in the Wubei Merit Market as long as they can prove its value. Instructor Meng was there when the pills were made and you yourself examined them, so their value should be proven, right?"

"Indeed, their value is real. But selling in the market is more difficult than you think. Even we had to deal with many hardships over the years. I'm not sure that an individual or a small faction like Heavenly Swallow could stand the pressure of such a business. Apart from my Dragon's Fire Faction, I doubt anyone can sell any pill in the market."

"Senior Wen, I know this could be difficult, but I really want to try."

"I understand. With such good pills who wouldn't want to sell them? Brother Chen, you're free to sell anything in our market, but I'm afraid this won't be as simple as that. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but my advice would be to not sell any pill there.

If you want, I can try to negotiate with the other factions. I can maybe come to an agreement to buy your pills exceptionally. Please, Brother Chen, I'll try and meet with them as soon as possible, just be patient for a few days."

"I understand, Senior Wen. It's a pity that you can't buy off my pills. It seems I'll have to wait for your good news. Otherwise, I'll have to try a very difficult business..."

Both men understood perfectly each other's subtext.

"Brother Chen, I sincerely hope that I'm successful in persuading these faction leaders. If only my Dragon's Fire Faction could help, we would. It's a pity that we can't put all our resources and experience to your service..."

"Thank you, Senior Wen. I'll remember your sincerity."

They both kept talking about various topics, mostly alchemy, and they bid each other farewell.

-

Wen Zhu asked another man in the room.

"Brother Luo, how are the sales of our Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills?"

"Very good, Faction Leader. Even among inner disciples, they sell well. We're making a big profit with them almost every day."

"How much can you decrease their price?"

The man was startled but got thinking. "I think, going as down as 12 points would not hurt us on the long run."

"If someone else tries to sell Low-Level Qi Gathering Pills, lower their price to 12 points immediately. Relay my orders to all our sellers."

He was startled once again but didn't dare refuse a direct order. Wen Zhu had no intention of allowing Cao Yun to sell his pills whether to his faction or in the market. He was just trying to buy some time by pretending to negotiate.