Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 913: The Generous Merchant

Li Yu began to walk around the premium display cases within the massive pavilion. He commented on various items that caught his attention. He looked at them with genuine admiration but his remarks were tinged with a clear understanding that he could not purchase any of them due to his empty token. He was enjoying seeing the high quality items and furthering his knowledge of rare treasures.Li Yu stopped in front of a specialized weapon rack and his eyes locked onto a beautiful sword resting on a silver frame. The scabbard was forged from a pale white metal and the guard resembled a snowflake. The blade gave off a faint and elegant misty aura that chilled the surrounding air slightly.

With his morning training using Firmament's End, Li Yu had been looking to expand his combat options. He did not know any traditional sword techniques but his practice with sword control had proven highly effective for combat.

He realized that if he could add more high quality swords to his projectile arsenal, he could launch multiple simultaneous attacks from a distance. Controlling a flying blade like a javelin suited his skills. He would use his second mind to control the swords while he could continue to fight on.

"This is a magnificent sword." Li Yu commented while leaning closer to the glass. "The ice energy is perfectly integrated into the forge work. It is truly remarkable."

Jin stood right beside him and heard the praise. The compulsion roared to life inside his chest once more. Without a single moment of hesitation, Jin reached out and grabbed the silver frame. He unlocked the display and lifted the weapon out like it was a piece of trash. He thrust it directly into Li Yu's hands.

"If you think it is great, it is yours." Jin announced with a wide and earnest smile. "Whispering Frost is a great sword and it belongs with someone who can truly appreciate its quality and craftmanship."

The entire pavilion went dead silent. The assistants stopped moving and the nearby recruits stared with their eyes even more wide open.

"Wait, what?" Li Yu blinked in confusion as his hands instinctively wrapped around the scabbard. "I cannot afford this. I was just making a comment on how it looked with my untrained eyes. I also do not have any camp merit points to buy a treasure of this caliber."

"Merit points are entirely meaningless constructs!" Jin brushed his concerns away with a grand wave of his hand. "A master craftsman created Whispering Frost to be wielded by greatness. You spotted its value instantly. Your eye for detail proves that this sword belongs to you. Consider it a gift from us to you."

Several clan heirs who had been standing nearby exploded in pure outrage. They had spent months saving up thousands of merit points just to look at the lower shelf items.

"This is completely unfair!" One of the heirs shouted while pointing an angry finger at the display. "Whispering Frost is one of the highest quality treasures in the entire market! Anyone with eyes can see how amazing that sword is! A blind person could see it is great! How can you just hand it over to a broke recruit for free while we have to pay a premium?"

Jin turned his head slowly as the kind and eager expression vanished instantly. His cold amber eyes locked onto the complaining heir and a heavy pressure flared from his broad shoulders.

"Silence!" Jin barked. His voice carried the icy snap of a true apex merchant. "You are all people with eyes but you cannot see true greatness standing right in front of you! You look at a masterpiece and you can’t truly see its value. This young master recognized the true essence of the steel with a mere glance. Only he deserves to hold it. If any of you dare to complain again, I will ban your entire family lines from trading with Golden Horizon forever!"

The complaining heir paled instantly and stepped back into the crowd. No one dared to say another word as it would do them no good. They knew when to retreat and were not stupid. The sheer level of blatant favoritism was staggering though but Jin held absolute authority over the wares.

Li Yu felt incredibly awkward now and still confused on why he was being treated this way. He looked at the beautiful sword in his hands and tried to push it back toward the merchant. "Jin, please. This is too much. If I must take it, let me write a debt ledger. Once I earn merits, I will repay you in full. Or I can give you spirit stones from my storage ring right now."

Jin looked absolutely horrified. His features twisted as if he had just been slapped across the face.

"A debt?!" Jin cried out as his voice trembled with genuine offense. "You wish to place a debt between us? Having a debt ledger is a great insult to my character! This is a gift. Talk about it no more or else I will become severely upset with you!"

Li Yu realized the large turtle beast merchant was dead serious and was a bit worried what he would do. He could tell that while Jin was a merchant, his cultivation was incredibly strong as well. It was clear that he held a high rank within the organization. If he kept trying to reject the weapon, the man might do something.

"Okay." Li Yu sighed warily. "Thank you for your generosity. I will remember it."

He stored Whispering Frost into his Koi Sanctuary next to Firmament's End. The strange generosity only intensified as they moved further into the premium pavilion. Jin was relentless in his kind. Whenever Li Yu so much as glanced at an item for more than two seconds, Jin would immediately order his assistants to pack it up.

Li Yu happened to look at a shelf containing cultivation pills. They were designed to rapidly replenish vitality after an intense battle. It would help you get back to peak condition faster.

"These cultivation pills possess an incredibly pure spiritual aroma." Li Yu noted casually.

"Pack three entire crates for the young man!" Jin shouted to a nearby assistant.

"Wait, I do not need three crates!" Li Yu protested.

"Then just one crate! Jin countered with a beaming smile. "Your path to the peak requires the best fuel. Consider it a minor token to assist your daily training."

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A moment later, Li Yu's eyes caught a strange object resting inside a small jade box. It was located at the very back of an alchemical display. It was a single, large lotus seed. The seed was a deep emerald green and its surface was covered in faint natural runes that pulsed with a mysterious energy.

Jin followed his gaze and looked at the item. "To be completely honest, my organization does not actually know the exact use or origin of this lotus seed. We recovered it from a hidden vault deep within a forgotten realm. Our best appraisers believe it is special but they have never been able to unlock its secrets or trigger its growth."

"It carries a very unique vibration." Li Yu murmured. He felt a faint and instinctual pull from his Koi Sanctuary when he approached the box.

Jin immediately pushed the jade box into Li Yu's hands. "Then it belongs to you. A mysterious treasure should always go to its fated master. Take it and see if your fortune can unlock its purpose."

Li Yu accepted the box without arguing this time since he really wanted it. He knew it would only trigger another round of dramatic protests from Jin anyways. While he wasn’t sure why this was happening, he made a mental note of it to repay these debts at a later time with favors or something they needed at that time.

Li Yu opened a small thread of his divine sense and sent the mysterious lotus seed directly into his Koi Sanctuary. It planted itself firmly into the fertile earth right next to the massive Lotus that sprouted in there long ago. The seed settled into the soil and began pulsing quietly in perfect tandem with the ambient energy of the already blooming lotus.

Finally, Jin guided him to one of the centerpieces of the entire market. Resting on a grand pedestal of black stone was a miniature replica of a magnificent flying ship. The hull was crafted from a sleek dark alloy. The entire structure was shaped perfectly like a soaring hawk with its wings swept back in a posture of extreme speed.

"A flying ship." Li Yu said as his eyes lit up with genuine admiration. "The design is incredible too. The speed arrays must be exceptionally refined."

"This is the Sky Talon." Jin explained proudly while his broad chest puffed out. "It is a premium class vessel designed to navigate the cosmic pathways. It utilizes spatial distortion arrays to slide through void storms with zero resistance. It is one of the fastest ships Golden Horizon has ever produced."

Before Li Yu could even open his mouth to praise it further, Jin reached into his robes and he pulled out the primary control token for the ship. He pressed the heavy jade token directly into Li Yu's palm.

"The Sky Talon needs a master who can match its spirit." Jin said with conviction. "Please accept the control token. It will remain small like this until you activate it and then it will take its true form. It will respond to your command at any time using this token."

The assistants standing around the pedestal looked as though they were on the verge of tears. The total value of the treasures their boss had just handed away was staggering. The corporate ledgers were going to be an absolute nightmare after this was over.

Li Yu stared at the jade token in his hand before storing it safely away alongside his other rewards. He couldn’t even bring himself to fakely reject the gift, it was much too nice and he wanted it. He looked at the large merchant and felt a profound sense of gratitude.

"Thank you for everything, Jin." Li Yu said sincerely. He offered a respectful bow to the man. "You have given me an incredible amount of assistance today. I do not know why you are treating me so well but I promise that I will one day repay this massive favor to you and Golden Horizon several times over."

The moment the word repay left Li Yu's mouth, Jin's face paled dramatically. A look of pure terror crossed the turtle beast's features. He began waving his hands frantically in the air.

"Repay me?" Jin cried out as his voice cracked with panic. "If you ever repaid me for these trivial items, I would rather die right here on the spot! Please do not speak of such horrible things! I value your business above all else. Your acceptance of these gifts is the only reward I could ever ask for. Do not insult our friendship by speaking of repayment!"

Li Yu blinked and was completely bewildered by the extreme statement. Why would a merchant rather die than get paid? It made absolutely no sense. He smiled warily and nodded slowly while walking away. He decided it was best to leave before Jin suffered a medical emergency from the stress.

"I will take my leave then." Li Yu said. "Thank you again for the tour."

He turned around and walked out of the premium pavilion. He headed back toward the camp gates and was trying to figure out what was going on.

The exact moment Li Yu stepped past the outer perimeter of the market and exited the range of Jin's divine sense, the ancestral compulsion snapped instantly. The heavy and warm fog that had clouded Jin's mind vanished into thin air.

Jin stood alone in the center of his premium pavilion. His cold and calculating merchant persona returned in a flash and it was immediately accompanied by a wave of numbing dread.

He looked around the tent. He looked at the empty weapon rack where Whispering Frost used to rest. He looked at the empty shelves that was now missing a crate of pills. He looked at the vacant black stone pedestal where Sky Talon had been displayed.

His mind spun in absolute horror as it all settled in his mind. He was a ruthless merchant that never gave anything away unless it was for even more profit. He prided himself on cold logic and maximum profit margins.

"What did I just do?!" Jin whispered to himself. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead and his hands began to shake violently.

Jin tried to review his own actions. He remembered everything perfectly yet it was still vague in his mind. He had willingly unlocked his finest inventory. He had insulted wealthy customers and refused spirit stones.

He had threatened family lines and practically forced a broke recruit to take a fortune in treasures for free. Every time that human youth had spoken, Jin's body felt like it had moved completely on its own. He was driven by an instinct he did not even understand. Even now when he had the thought to just catch up to the boy and take it all back his mind stops him.

"That boy is dangerous." Jin muttered as his eyes widened with fear. He gripped the edge of his desk to steady himself. "It is like he was charming me. He manipulated my very soul without lifting a finger. I never want to see him again! Assistants! Begin packing up the remaining wares immediately! Finish out transactions as fast as possible. We are leaving this sector before noon! Move!"

The assistants scrambled to obey. They were terrified by their boss's sudden return to his manic and cold blooded self.

Outside the pavilion, the recruits who had witnessed the entire interaction were completely paralyzed with shock. The rumors that had quietly faded over the past week suddenly came roaring back to life with terrifying force.

"He really is a supreme noble from a top clan or somewhere even higher." A recruit whispered to his companion as they walked back to the barracks.

"Did you see Guild Master Jin?" Another agreed as his voice grew thick with awe. "The coldest merchant in the sector practically begged him to take that incredible flying ship and a top tier sword. He threatened to ruin a clan line just because someone complained about it."

The young cultivators looked toward the back of the thoroughfare where Li Yu was walking calmly. The realization settled deep into their minds. This boy possessed an immense and unfathomable background that could make absolute tyrants bow and offer gifts.

Their correct decision to never make him an enemy was finalized completely. If the opportunity ever arose, they knew they needed to do whatever it took to become his friend if possible.

Li Yu walked back through the iron camp gates and was highly satisfied with his morning break. He had a new sword for his projectile practice along with more pills, a mysterious seed planted in the Koi Sanctuary and an amazing flying ship. The ship would help him travel between realms since he was strong enough to break through the realm barrier by himself.

He felt ready for the afternoon lecture and was looking forward to it.