The Azure Cloud Commercial District was a sensory overload.
Towers of red lacquer and gold leaf rose into the sky, housing the major pill shops, weapon smiths, and auction houses. The air smelled of medicinal herbs...
Li Ye walked through the crowd, his hands clasped behind his back, analyzing the economy.
'Inflation is rampant,' he noted, watching a cultivator haggle over a low-grade spirit sword. 'The supply of Spirit Stones is controlled by the Three Great Sects, creating an artificial scarcity. Meanwhile, commodity prices for pills are manipulated by the Alchemist Guild. It's a textbook cartel.'
Behind him walked Su Qinghan.
She was wearing a bamboo hat with a veil to hide her face, as per Li Ye's orders. Her "Ice Phoenix" aura was suppressed, but her natural grace still drew stares. She carried a heavy basket of cheap, raw herbs they had just bought with their last remaining coin.
"Master," Su Qinghan whispered, adjusting the heavy basket. "We spent our last silver on... Spirit Grass and Mud Roots? These are weeds. They are used to feed pigs."
"Correct," Li Ye said without stopping. "The market undervalues them because they have low Qi density. But chemically, they contain the base compounds needed for skin regeneration. They just lack a binding agent."
He stopped in front of a massive, three-story building.
[The Golden Cauldron Pavilion]
It was the most luxurious pill shop in the capital, owned by the Golden Cauldron Sect. The entrance was guarded by two stone lions and a long line of wealthy carriages.
"We are here," Li Ye said.
"To buy?" Su Qinghan asked.
"To disrupt," Li Ye corrected.
He walked up the steps. The guards frowned at his plain grey robes but didn't stop him—Li Ye walked with the confidence of a man who owned the building, and the guards were trained not to offend eccentric masters.
Inside, the pavilion was opulent. Crystal cases displayed pills resting on velvet cushions.
[Spirit Gathering Pill: 50 Stones] [Blood Healing Pill: 30 Stones]
Li Ye sneered. '300% markup on manufacturing costs. Robbery.'
He headed straight for the "Cosmetics Section."
This was the busiest area. Noblewomen, concubines, and wealthy merchant daughters were crowding around a counter where a fat man in a golden alchemist robe was holding court.
"Ladies, please!" The fat man, Shopkeeper Liu, beamed, holding up a small jade jar. "This is the latest batch of the Eternal Spring Cream! Refined by Grandmaster Wang himself! It contains powdered pearl and essence of the Morning Sun Flower. It guarantees to remove wrinkles and restore the glow of youth!"
"How much?" a plump noblewoman, Madam Zhang, asked breathlessly.
"For you, Madam Zhang? Only 200 Spirit Stones."
The crowd gasped. 200 Stones was the price of a high-tier weapon.
"I'll take it!" Madam Zhang reached for her purse. "My husband is taking a new concubine next week... I need to look my best."
Li Ye stepped forward.
"Madam," Li Ye's voice cut through the perfume-heavy air like a knife. "If you put that sludge on your face, you won't look younger. You will develop a rash, and in three years, your skin will sag like melting wax."
Silence.
Every head turned. Shopkeeper Liu's smile vanished.
"Who said that?" Liu roared. "Who dares slander the Golden Cauldron Pavilion?"
Li Ye emerged from the crowd. He looked at the jar in Liu's hand with his [Divine Appraisal Eye] active.
[Item: Eternal Spring Cream] [Ingredients: Pearl Dust (Low Quality), Morning Sun Flower (Wilted), Pig Fat, Mercury (Trace Amounts).] [Effect: Temporary tightening of skin due to inflammation. Long-term Effect: Mercury poisoning.]
"I am merely offering consumer protection," Li Ye said calmly. "Shopkeeper Liu, is it? You claim this contains Morning Sun Flower essence. But Morning Sun Flowers are Yang-aligned. Human skin, particularly female skin, is Yin-aligned. Applying raw Yang energy to a Yin surface causes 'Fire Dryness'. It burns the moisture out of the pores."
He turned to Madam Zhang. "Have you noticed that after using their products, your skin feels tight and itchy for an hour? And you need to apply more and more each week?"
Madam Zhang's eyes went wide. "Yes! Yes, exactly! I thought it was the medicine working!"
"That is your skin dying," Li Ye said bluntly.
"You... you insolent trash!" Shopkeeper Liu turned purple. He recognized Li Ye now. "You are the Princess's useless husband! A cripple! What do you know of Alchemy? Guards! Throw him out!"
Two burly guards stepped forward.
"Wait."
Li Ye raised a hand. "I am not here to fight. I am here to prove a point. And to make a sale."
"A sale?" Liu laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "You? You have nothing! You are a beggar living off the Princess!"
"I have a product," Li Ye said. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small, rough wooden bowl. inside was a clear, gel-like substance.
He had made it ten minutes ago in a back alley. He had crushed the "pig weed" herbs and forced Su Qinghan to inject her Nine Yin Qi into the mixture to flash-freeze and refine the impurities.
"This," Li Ye announced, "is Frost Jade Essence. No mercury. No pig fat. Just pure, organic regeneration."
"Hahahaha!" Liu clutched his belly. "Look at that! It's in a beggar's bowl! It looks like snot! You expect Madam Zhang to put that on her face?"
"Presentation is irrelevant. Results are absolute," Li Ye said.
He turned to Su Qinghan. "Take off the veil."
Su Qinghan hesitated. She gripped the rim of her hat.
"Do it," Li Ye commanded softly.
She lifted her hand and removed the bamboo hat.
The entire shop went silent.
It was as if someone had turned on a spotlight. Su Qinghan's silver hair cascaded down like a river of stars. Her skin was so white, so translucent, so utterly flawless that it seemed to glow with its own light. There wasn't a pore, a blemish, or a wrinkle to be seen. She looked like a statue carved from the finest ice jade in the heavens.
The noblewomen stared. Their mouths hung open. Envy, pure and raw, filled the room.
"This is my assistant," Li Ye said, gesturing to Su Qinghan like she was a car at an auto show. "Yesterday, she was a slave with frostbite and scars. She has been using Frost Jade Essence for twelve hours."
"Liar!" Liu shrieked, though he was sweating. "No human has skin like that!"
Li Ye ignored him. He looked at Madam Zhang, who was staring at Su Qinghan with the hunger of a starving wolf.
"Madam," Li Ye said smoothly. "You can buy the fat man's mercury paste for 200 stones. or you can buy my trial batch for 50 stones. If it doesn't work in five minutes, I will let the guards beat me to death."
It was a bold claim. A "Money-Back Guarantee" backed by his life.
Madam Zhang looked at the expensive jar. Then she looked at Su Qinghan's god-tier complexion.
"I'll take it," Madam Zhang snapped. She threw a pouch of 50 Spirit Stones at Li Ye and grabbed the wooden bowl.
She scooped out a bit of the gel and applied it to her hand, which had a few age spots.
The gel felt cool. It absorbed instantly.
"Oh..." Madam Zhang gasped.
Visible to the naked eye, the red irritation on her hand faded. The skin plumped up, becoming white and smooth. The age spots didn't vanish, but they lightened significantly in seconds.
"It's... it's cold! But it feels like water!" Madam Zhang shrieked. "Give me more! I want a bucket of it!"
Pandemonium erupted.
"Me too! I want one!" "Young Master Li! I'll pay 60 stones!" "Get out of my way! I saw him first!"
The noblewomen abandoned the Shopkeeper Liu like a sinking ship. They swarmed Li Ye, waving pouches of spirit stones.
Li Ye held up his hands. "Ladies, ladies please! Supply is limited! This is a handcrafted, artisanal product! We only have three jars left!"
He lied. He had none left. But scarcity drove demand.
"I bid 100!" "150!"
Shopkeeper Liu watched in horror as his customers engaged in a bidding war for a bowl of pig weed mixed with Qi.
"Stop!" Liu roared, slamming his hand on the counter. "This is a scam! He is using demonic arts to trick you!"
Li Ye looked at Liu over the heads of the screaming women. He smiled—the smile of a shark who just smelled blood.
"The market has spoken, Liu," Li Ye said coldly. "Your product is obsolete. Adapt or die."
Thirty minutes later.
Li Ye and Su Qinghan walked out of the Golden Cauldron Pavilion.
The basket of weeds was empty. Li Ye's sleeves, however, were heavy.
He had sold the "rights" to the next batch to five different noblewomen. He walked away with 800 Spirit Stones.
It was a small fortune. Enough to buy a high-grade cultivation technique, or a decent weapon.
"Master," Su Qinghan said, walking beside him. She was wearing the veil again, but her step was lighter. She looked at Li Ye with a strange expression. "We used 3 copper coins worth of weeds. And my Qi. And you sold it for... 800 stones?"
"That is called Profit Margin," Li Ye said, tossing the heavy pouch in his hand and snatching it mid air. "We didn't sell the weeds, Qinghan. We sold hope."
He stopped at a weapon shop.
"Now," Li Ye said, his eyes narrowing. "We have capital. It's time to arm ourselves. The Princess won't stay quiet for long, and Shopkeeper Liu will send assassins by tonight."
"Assassins?" Su Qinghan tensed.
"Of course," Li Ye grinned. "I just humiliated a monopoly in front of their VIP clients. If they didn't try to kill me, I'd be disappointed in their business acumen."
He walked into the weapon shop.
"Shopkeeper! I need a set of silver needles, ten pounds of heavy iron, and... do you have any gunpowder?".