The day after Jun Li’s duel with Yang Chen, she found herself standing outside the local Alchemist Association branch.

  Taking a deep breath to alleviate the anxieties that came with matters of money, Jun Li stepped inside.

  “Ah.” The moment she opened the door, she immediately saw the Branch Director at the other end of the room, speaking with the receptionist. “Master Zhu!”

  Hearing Jun Li call out to him, the Director looked her way. “Ahh, Jun Li. I trust you’ve been taking advantage of the breakthrough the Stoneshell Ginger Pills afforded you?”

  Wearing a satisfied expression, Jun Li made her way to the reception desk. “Yeah… I managed to make some money, in fact. And, well… I’m looking to take a short break from my training.”

  The Director furrowed his eyebrow, hearing Jun Li’s explanation. “Well… don’t neglect your Cultivation for too long.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for any longer than a few days!” Jun Li reassured her Master.

  As homesick as she felt, she was painfully aware of how close she was to making it into the Inner Sect and securing more reliable support for her family.

  “On that note… I could actually use some help.” Jun Li produced the string of gold slats she had won from the duel and placed them on the table.

  “I’m not sure how much of this I’ll have to use, but I was hoping to pick up some supplies for my family on the way back home, and I figured I’d be able to stock up on some medicine here. Preventatives, mostly.”

  “In that case, I’m sure we can work something out. Oh, and if you’re looking to purchase in bulk, I suggest you stop by the Merchant’s Guild.” The Director smirked, remembering something. “Be sure to use my name to get faster service, the service over there is awfully slow otherwise.”

  “Now then…” The Branch Director turned to the receptionist. “I trust you’ll be able to help Alchemist Jun collect the medicine she needs?”

  Ever uncomfortable around Jun Li, the receptionist tried to hide his dismay under a creaking smile. “Uh… Yes… Sir, I’ll get right on that.”

  Turning to walk upstairs, the Director waved a hand over his shoulder. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything else, Jun Li. Don’t let your skills sit gathering rust for more than a week!”

  … ... ... ... ...

  With help from some of the staff at the Alchemist’s Association, Jun Li was able to gather enough medicines for a family of twelve non-cultivators to last at least one full year.

  Loitering in the plaza outside the building, Jun Li was flicking through her remaining gold plates; she counted eight of the original dozen left over from her spending.

  Looking at the torso-sized box of high-grade medicine beside her, she couldn’t find any complaint with the haul.

  “Hup!” Slinging the crate over her back, Jun Li stashed the clinking gold plates and made her way south from the Alchemist’s Association, where she was informed the Merchant’s Guild would be located.

  ‘…I guess there’s no point spending time trying to find it from street-level.’ Hoping to save time, Jun Li steadied the box on her back and leapt to a nearby rooftop.

  Listening to the roof tiles click under her shoes, Jun Li enjoyed a slow walk across the rooftops of the city.

  Something about the heights and isolation gave Jun Li a sense of freedom she never really felt anywhere else.

  Looking up to the sky, Jun Li spread her arms and took a deep breath. “Hahhh… I wonder if I’ll ever be able to fly through the sky like the Cultivator I inherited my memories from…”

  Jun Li used to daydream often about her inherited memories, but after entering the Glass Cloud Sect, she felt so busy that she barely even dreamed anymore, simply passing out the instant she met her bed, assuming she felt like she had the opportunity to rest.

  The only moments she took to scour her memories these days were in service of her deal with the Branch Director.

  Outside of looking for memories regarding alchemy and basic Cultivation concepts, Jun Li hadn’t made any use of her memories whatsoever, something that continuously irked her.

  She felt like her memories meant something, that she was destined for more than just being a mildly talented Cultivator in some backwater kingdom.

  ‘Is it selfish to want more than this…?’ Looking out over the cityscape, Jun Li knew that she was already among the privileged.

  The box on her back and gold in her pocket told her that much, even ignoring her Cultivation.

  Despite how close she was to uplifting her family from poverty, she felt unsatisfied. For the first time in her life, Jun Li felt the sting of ambition.

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  Sighing, Jun Li tried to shake off the suffocating feeling that came over her. ‘I shouldn’t be getting greedy… I need to focus, I’m too close to making it into the Inner Sect to get distracted by weird whims…’

  Hopping over the gap between rooftops, Jun Li finally caught sight of a wide building that stretched over one of the widest streets in the capital.

  Jun Li steadily climbed down from the rooftop, clattering down loose stones and windowsills so as not to disturb the box on her back too much.

  ‘After I get back home, I can rest for a few days. After that… I need to get back to the sect and stay there until I get enough money to move them into the city proper…’

  Approaching the Merchant’s Guild, Jun Li was surprised at how bustling it was.

  Outside, numerous stalls and posts were set up for the organized trade of innumerable types of goods, and the building itself was vast, with numerous enormous doors and gates across its surface, allowing for easy access to incoming and outgoing shipments by carriage and cart.

  “I thought the Alchemist’s Association Branch was the biggest single building in the capital, but this must be pretty close…’

  Gormlessly sauntering through the marketplace, Jun Li’s eyes spun from the deluge of sights and sounds.

  Finding herself distracted by the stalls as she walked to the main building, Jun Li didn’t notice that she drew quite a few gazes.

  A number of the savvier merchants were sharply aware of Jun Li’s grey robe, as it marked her as a member of the Glass Cloud Sect.

  Assuming Jun Li to be of noble status, several merchants had their subordinates keep track of her, noticing that she was headed to the main building.

  The Merchant’s Guild itself functioned as an organization for traders in the Zhao Kingdom to trade market information and services between any merchants willing to play by their rules.

  Each city in the Zhao Kingdom had a ‘Guild Warehouse' much like the one Jun Li was making her way to.

  These buildings served as mass storage for Guild-affiliated merchants to keep their products safe and secure.

  Furthermore, specially trained representatives of the Merchant’s Guild were permitted to sell any items stored within these warehouses, taking a light cut of the profits, and transferring the money to the merchants that deposited the items sold.

  Some smaller and more independent merchants take exception to the Guild’s methods and would rather make sales themselves than lose a cut of profit, but for larger businesses, the sales cut the Guild took was low enough that it simply saved them the time, effort, and money it would take to independently sell their own products, especially when it involved the sale of bulk goods.

  Thus, on the off chance that Jun Li intended to make a considerable purchase in the warehouse, some merchants wanted to keep aware of her movements, so that they could guide the Merchant’s Guild representatives into prioritizing the sale of their own goods, should Jun Li be in the market for a relevant purchase.

  Oblivious to the subtle maneuvers her presence spawned, Jun Li brushed away her distraction and made her way inside the warehouse.

  Despite being shorter than the Alchemist’s Association Branch, the interior of the Merchant’s Guild warehouse felt taller, as the second floor was a single, enormous balcony that stretched along the length of the warehouse, leaving the ceiling visible from the first floor.

  Gawking at the enormity of the building, Jun Li walked around the ground floor, looking at the numerous staffed counters near the entrance, each and every one with a packed line of people waiting to finish whatever business they came for. ‘I guess this is the wait Master Zhu mentioned…’

  “…He said to use his name, but… I don’t even know who to talk to…” Groaning a bit from how confusing the building felt, Jun Li wandered further inside, ignoring the sides of the buildings piled with mountains and mountains of boxes and crates.

  “Huh… maybe this place…” Jun Li stopped upon finding a large door deeper in the building labeled as ‘V.I.P. Area.’

  “Master Zhu seems like a ‘very important person’ so… maybe I can talk to someone here?” Opening the door, Jun Li stepped inside.

  The interior was warmly lit, and when the door closed behind her, Jun Li couldn’t hear anything outside of the room, even with her Cultivation-enhanced senses.

  Stepping further inside, a rather lavish room laid out before her, with plush seats and ornate wooden tables topped with delicate teaware.

  Somewhat intimidated by the opulence of the room, Jun Li felt somewhat meek as she approached a counter deeper into the room.

  Already aware of her presence, a staff member behind the counter glanced towards Jun Li with a neutral expression.

  Though her expression didn’t betray any particular thought, she was somewhat befuddled by Jun Li’s appearance.

  As usual, Jun Li was wearing her patchwork bucket hat, and although that would immediately cause most to dismiss her as a pauper, the staff member behind the counter, a Guild Representative, was more discerning.

  Jun Li’s robe transparently denoted her place as a Cultivator of the Glass Cloud Sect, and seeing this contrast, the representative could only assume Jun Li to be the eccentric child of some noble or merchant.

  “Welcome. May I enquire as to the purpose of your visit?” Bowing softly and offering a picturesque smile, the guild representative spoke out towards Jun Li, who quickly felt more at ease.

  “Ah, thank you, I’m… well…” Jun Li struggled for a moment to find the words, feeling a pressure that wasn’t there. “I’m Zhu Enlai’s disciple, the Branch Manager of the Alchemist’s Association. I was hoping to purchase some supplies for my family, and my Master recommended I come here…”

  Hearing the name ‘Zhu Enlai,’ alarms began to ring in the representative’s mind. The name of the Alchemist’s Association carried significant weight with the Merchant’s Guild.

  The value of good health wasn’t something any normal business could easily put a price on, but through dealings with the Alchemist’s Association, the Merchant’s Guild was able to do just that.

  Even the most obscure and disastrous mundane illness could be completely cured by one of Zhu Enlai’s elixirs when he decides to make them.

  Despite his capricious nature, the Merchant’s Guild was able to convince Zhu Enlai to supply them with his medicines whenever he made them, which they would then eagerly sell for great sums of wealth in a guild-affiliated auction house.

  Needless to say, the representative was unwilling to even humor the idea that the person in front of her was lying about their affiliation.

  The risk of upsetting such an important asset to the Merchant’s Guild was far too great; if this guest relayed the Merchant’s Guild as being uncooperative and Zhu Enlai ceased dealing with them, being fired would be the least of her worries. Instead…

  “I see… In that case, please wait warmly while I contact our very best to help you find what you need. Please make yourself comfortable anywhere you wish, someone will be out very shortly to offer tea and confections in the meantime.”

  Bowing again to Jun Li, the representative turned to walk away, hoping the stress she felt didn’t show through her expression.