Chuanjiang City, bustling central district.
A luxurious five-story building stood amidst the bustling streets.
People coming and going were all elegantly dressed, exuding an imposing aura.
Above the entrance, on a large signboard, were four golden characters – Wanhe Trading Alliance.
On both sides of the entrance, two burly men stood with hands behind their backs, their expressions solemn.
Such a grand establishment would make even common citizens hesitate to enter, filled with awe.
However, Jiang Heng, in a foul mood, paid no attention to the city's vibrancy. Once he found the location of the Wanhe Trading Alliance, he walked straight into the building.
A servant in gray immediately approached him, bowed slightly from a distance, and asked, "Does this young sir need guidance?"
Jiang Heng gave him a glance.
This was a young man of similar age, and a hint of envy briefly flashed across his youthful face.
"Lead the way! I want to see the Qi and Blood Pills," Jiang Heng said.
"As you wish! Please follow me, young sir!"
The servant obediently led Jiang Heng into the building. It seemed he recognized that Jiang Heng was a first-time visitor, as he briefly explained the layout of the building and provided an overview of the Wanhe Trading Alliance.
Inside the Wanhe Trading Alliance, they sold high-value items such as top-tier weapons, various cultivation elixirs, healing elixirs, various beast hides, and even rare martial art manuals.
When the topic of martial art manuals came up, Jiang Heng's interest was piqued. He asked, "Wait, take me to see the martial art manuals first."
"Of course!"
Without hesitation, the servant led Jiang Heng to the martial art manual section on the third floor.
It was a somewhat spacious hall with three counters, each staffed by a smiling young woman.
In the hall, a few scattered individuals were browsing through the books placed on the counters.
When Jiang Heng entered the hall, the servant stopped just outside and respectfully waited.
"Do you have any primary body refining martial arts?" Jiang Heng inquired as he approached the counter labeled 'Primary Martial Arts.'
The girl behind the counter, still wearing a smile, reached out in a particular direction and replied, "Yes, here are three primary body refining martial arts."
Jiang Heng walked over and looked at the three martial arts manuals.
1. Diamond Body Technique - Primary body refining martial art, focuses on enhancing the body in all aspects, excelling in physical defense. Price: One thousand two silver taels.
2. Dragon Elephant Technique - Primary body refining martial art, emphasizes enhancing the body in all aspects, excelling in explosive strength. Price: One thousand two silver taels.
3. Mirage Body Technique - Primary body refining martial art, focuses on enhancing the body in all aspects, excelling in speed and agility. Price: One thousand two silver taels.
After briefly inspecting them, Jiang Heng picked up the Diamond Body Technique and said to the girl behind the counter, "I'll take this one."
He then took out a silver note from his pocket and handed it over.
After receiving it, the girl curtsied slightly and said, "Certainly, young sir. Please wait a moment."
She left the counter and entered a small room on the side. When she returned, she held a brand new handwritten martial art manual.
This was the true manual.
Jiang Heng briefly perused the martial art manual, and when a prompt appeared in his mind, he tucked the manual into his chest and left the martial arts hall.
Before long, under the guidance of the gray-clad servant, he arrived at the second-floor area dedicated to elixirs.
Inside the Wanhe Trading Alliance, the price for a Qi and Blood Pill was 200 silver taels.
Within the Dalu sect, it was priced at 10 contribution points.
And 1 contribution point could be exchanged for 10 silver taels.
Calculating in this way, it seemed equivalent to a price of 100 silver taels, making it half the price of the Wanhe Trading Alliance.
However, in reality, within the Dalu sect, everything had to be purchased with contribution points. If one wanted to convert silver taels back into contribution points, it was at twice the price.
In other words, it took 20 silver taels to buy 1 contribution point, and 200 silver taels to buy 1 Qi and Blood Pill.
So, buying with money or within the Dalu sect was essentially the same, and this was a pricing strategy implemented by the sect to prevent disciples from freely selling their resources.
At present, Jiang Heng had several hundred thousand silver taels in his possession, so it made no difference where he purchased the Qi and Blood Pills.
"Give me 600 Qi and Blood Pills!" Jiang Heng took out a silver note and handed it to the beautiful girl behind the counter.
Normally, sect purchases were long-term arrangements with designated individuals handling the procurement. As for ordinary martial artists, they might consume a dozen or so Qi and Blood Pills in a month of cultivation at most.
So, even within the Wanhe Trading Alliance, it was extremely rare to buy such an exaggerated quantity of Qi and Blood Pills at once.
However, the well-trained beautiful girl, in just a moment of hesitation, accepted the silver note with a smile, counted it, and then reported to the person in charge of the section to prepare the order.
In another corner of the hall,
Three martial artists who had been purchasing elixirs exchanged glances upon hearing Jiang Heng's request. They completed their transactions as if nothing had happened and began to wander around the hall.
Not long after,
A middle-aged man carrying a delicate wooden box approached Jiang Heng. He too wore a smile and handed it to Jiang Heng.
Jiang Heng received it, opened the box, and briefly counted the contents.
"Not bad, the quantity is correct," he said.
Having achieved his goal for this visit, Jiang Heng carried the small wooden box and left the Wanhe Trading Alliance. He headed away from the city toward the direction of the mining camp.
Halfway along the road,
Jiang Heng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Come out!"
This was a wilderness outside the city, and the path to the mining camp was becoming more remote as he continued. Three figures were trailing him from a distance, and Jiang Heng could naturally sense their ill intentions.
The three youths immediately accelerated their pace and closed in on him.
"Little brother from the Dalu sect, we are the Three Heroes of Chuanjiang City. We're about to break through in our cultivation, but our funds are a bit tight. We happened to see that you have an ample supply of Qi and Blood Pills, so we've come to ask if you could lend us some."
"Don't worry, with our reputation as the Three Heroes of Chuanjiang City, we will return everything within a month. How about it?"
Jiang Heng's expression remained cold as he watched the three men's poor performance. A surge of killing intent welled up within him.
"If it were any other day, I might play along with you, but today, I'm not in the mood."
"So, you can go die!"
With that, Jiang Heng's figure suddenly moved like a raging tornado. He still held the small wooden box in his left hand, while his right hand clenched into a fist and struck out!
"How can this be? A mere outer disciple has such speed?"
The three were considered experts among mortals, all at the initial stage of True Qi Realm, or they wouldn't dare to ambush a Dalu sect disciple.
Seeing that Jiang Heng wore the outer disciple uniform and was so generous, they had tried to deceive him with words first to lower his guard and then launch a surprise attack.
For three True Qi Realm experts, dealing with an outer disciple should have been cautious enough. However, Jiang Heng's action made them immediately realize something was amiss.
With the completion of a mid-level Earth-grade Swift Wind Steps, his speed far exceeded their ability to react. The first person to be targeted by Jiang Heng had only managed to draw his knife before it was too late.