The following days were a whirlwind for Ning Yue. Gone were the quiet hours spent hunched over her cauldron, replaced by a frantic dance of negotiations and hushed deals. Wang Li had connected her with a network of shady middlemen, each one a gateway to a different high-rolling cultivator or influential family.
"Alright, alright," Ning Yue muttered, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow as she handed over a vial of Core Strengthening Pellets to a hooded figure. "That'll be... ten times the market price, remember?"
The figure grunted, their voice a distorted whisper, and tossed a hefty pouch of spirit stones at her. Ning Yue caught it with practiced ease, her heart pounding with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. This was a world she wasn't used to, a world of whispered secrets and veiled threats. But the potential rewards... well, they were hard to ignore.
