A short while later, Lu Ye sat in one of the compartments with several screens surrounding him to block out prying eyes. The female Demon cultivator from before was nowhere to be seen. However, she had asked him to wait here before she left. She also informed him that somebody in charge would soon come to do business with him. If he had any other instructions, he could simply shake the bell placed by the side and somebody would attend to his needs immediately.
There was a pot of tea on the table. Thus, he poured himself a cup. He immediately made a surprised expression after taking a sip of the tea. That was because the tea did not seem to be just any ordinary tea. The tea contained some Spiritual Power. It might not be much, but it was definitely there.
This discovery made him even more aware of the Divine Trade Association's extensive financial resources. This was simply the tea they prepared for their guests. Heaven knows how much tea was consumed in a day; they would not be able to afford something like this without deep pockets. Hence, he began gulping the tea down greedily. Nobody came to greet him even after he finished one pot of tea. Fortunately, he was in no rush. He simply rang the bell placed next to him gently.
A maid from the Divine Trade Association immediately walked into the compartment. "How may I help you?"
He pointed to the empty pot on the table. "A refill please!"
The maid seemed taken aback for a moment, but she came back to her senses quickly and instantly understood what he meant by a refill. Pursing her lips in a smile, she picked up the empty pot and walked out. A short while later, she returned with another pot of Spirit Tea and placed it down gently. "Please enjoy."
It wasn't until he drank 3 pots of tea that a woman walked into the compartment. By then, he was so full that he was hiccupping. "I apologize for the long wait. It's a pleasure to meet you, Fellow Cultivator. My name is Liu Ru Yin."
A faint but lingering fragrance immediately tickled his nose. Then, he looked at the woman who had just walked in. She was dressed very lightly, exposing a great deal of snow-white skin. Combined with her soft and smooth voice, the atmosphere in the tiny compartment immediately became somewhat ambiguous.
"It's fine." He nodded at her.
The woman named Liu Ru Yin pulled out a chair opposite him and sat down. After that, she picked up the tea pot and personally poured a cup of tea for him. Her body leaned forward greatly, revealing the seductive arcing outline of her entire back. The snow-white bosom that peeked out from her open neckline jiggled slightly with the movement, causing him to feel dizzy from the sight.
He hurriedly took a gulp of tea to suppress his shock. He had checked her aura when she walked in just now. According to his speculation, she was in the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm. It was just that her aura was rather cloudy. It would seem that she was the type to consume Spirit Pills frequently while cultivating.
Putting down the teapot, she asked, "So, what do you intend to sell?"
In response, he took out the mineral ores he planned to sell from his Storage Bag, but did not take them out all at once. It was his first time engaging with the Divine Trade Association, and he was not yet familiar with the business ethics of this Trade Association.
What he brought out were the mineral ores he had put on display at his stall previously.
Various mineral ores were placed in front of her. She randomly picked one up and studied it for a moment before nodding slightly. "This piece of Scarlet Eye Iron is of a good quality. It's a pity it's slightly on the smaller side. It could have been refined into a longsword if it were just a little bigger."
Her eyes lit up when she picked up the second piece of ore. "This Star Moonstone is amazing. It has very few impurities."
Afterward, she picked up the third piece of ore…
Lu Ye learned what it meant by 'professionalism' when he watched her. This woman named Liu Ru Yin was extremely familiar with all of the mineral ores he had placed in front of her. All her comments were to the point, even though he didn't understand much of what she said.
Finally, she picked up the Yuan Metal ore with a smile lifting the corner of her lips. "This is rarely seen in the Outer Circle of the battlefield. It will fetch a good price." She placed the Yuan Metal ore down and looked straight at him. "The Trade Association can offer you a price of 55 Spirit Stones for all of these. If you find the price suitable, we can complete the trade immediately."
Thanks to the results from his observations at the market earlier, he roughly understood the purchasing power of 55 Spirit Stones. Besides, the price was within his expected range.
Many people had offered him a price with the intention of taking advantage of him when he set up his stall previously. Nevertheless, he had gotten a general idea of the estimated value of his mineral ores from their offers. It could be said that his estimation was not too far off from the offer Liu Ru Yin had given him.
He furrowed his eyebrows slightly. "It's a little low."
She laughed. "It's only natural for the price to be slightly lower than if you peddled them off separately on your own. But, it saves you a lot of time and effort, right? Moreover, the Trade Association is a big business with many mouths to feed. You have to give us a little room to make a profit."
"Up the price a little more."
She lifted a hand and rubbed her temples as though she was experiencing a headache. However, her outstandingly good looks made her look even more charming instead. "Alright then. Since you are so sincere in making this sale, I will add 4 more Spirit Stones. But, you must not try to bargain any further. Otherwise, I will need to pay out of my own pocket just to facilitate this business transaction."
She looked at him with a pitiful expression, acting as though she had been bullied or something.
It stood to reason that he did not believe her. Even so, judging by her appearance, he knew that the price would not increase any further. Therefore, he said, "Okay."
She immediately broke out into a brilliant smile. "How would you like to receive your payment? Would you like your payment in Spirit Stones or Spirit Pills?"
"How much do you charge for your Spirit Pills?" he asked.
He was a little surprised to learn that he could receive Spirit Pills as payment. It just so happened that he had planned to use these Spirit Stones to purchase Spirit Pills later. After giving it some thought, he realized that many low-leveled cultivators would probably do the same. Therefore, providing this payment method would undoubtedly help the Divine Trade Association save on one extra procedure.
"One bottle of nine Spirit Restoring Pills is worth 10 Spirit Stones."
He frowned at those words. "Don't try to trick me. They sell one Spirit Pill for one Spirit Stone on the streets. Why are your goods more expensive?"
She explained, "Although they are all the same Spirit Restoring Pills, the quality of the Spirit Pills produced by each pill cultivator is different. All the pill cultivators who refine the Spirit Restoring Pills for the Trade Association are highly skilled cultivators. They are incomparable to the pill cultivators you can find on the streets. If you don't believe me, you can buy some to compare their quality for yourself. You will immediately see the difference. What's more, if there were any problems with the Spirit Restoring Pills sold by the Trade Association, there wouldn't be so many cultivators who would come to the Trade Association to buy them anymore."
He nodded. "There is some truth to what you said. Alright then; please give me 5 bottles of Spirit Pills and give me the remaining payment in Spirit Stones."
"Okay!" She nodded and got up. "Please wait for a moment."
She turned around with a twist of her waist and left the compartment. Returning a short while later, she placed 5 bottles and 4 Spirit Stones in front of him. "These are your goods."
Upon receiving both his money and his goods, he put them away into his Storage Bag.
Before he could stand up, she spoke up suddenly. "It's getting late. Do you have a place to stay for the night?"
When she asked that question, he abruptly realized something: There was no accommodation similar to inns in this city. At least, he had not seen any.
Seeing the expression on his face, she immediately understood what he was thinking about. She said, "The third floor and above of the Trade Association serves as an inn. It only costs one Spirit Stone per night. It is guaranteed that you won't be disturbed at all, whether you want to rest or cultivate. Also…" She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "We can also satisfy you if you have other needs. You only need to inform the person in charge there."
"I'm not that kind of person!" he replied sternly. At the same time, he was secretly shocked. [The Divine Trade Association really does carry out all kinds of business!]
Having met many people like him before, she simply pretended not to have heard him. She seductively murmured, "I finish work at 11 PM. If you would like for me to service you, you only need to inform somebody in charge to call for me when I finish work."
He was feeling a little exasperated. "I'm not that kind of person."
A short while later, Liu Ru Yin watched Lu Ye's departing figure. The smile on her face vanished and she angrily muttered, "Stingy man!"
Under general circumstances, a cultivator would give a small reward of one or two Spirit Stones if they successfully carried out a large transaction. Especially after Liu Ru Yin had increased the purchase price for Lu Ye. That was an unwritten rule. Unfortunately, it was Lu Ye's first time doing business here. It was only natural that he did not know he had to give a reward.