I appeared in the poor district of Dragon Gate City and began walking toward the Blue Wind Pavilion.

How did I want to approach this? Mei should be at the front door of the Pavilion, and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to recreate our first meeting, but was that what I wanted? More to the point, did it matter? Mei and WuJing both had powerful social blessings, so nothing I did would have too much of an effect on them.

Still, I had to put on a proper show for everyone else in the Pavilion.

WuJing was the floor manager of this branch of the Blue Wind Pavilion. He wasn’t the top brass, and I had no information about the people above him. WuJing wouldn’t have been made a manager if the people in charge didn’t trust him, but even if he recommended me, how much would those people value someone who looked like a street urchin?

Unless I was willing to be WuJing’s pet alchemist, I would need to make myself appear valuable to the higher-ups. Importantly, I needed to make sure it was me that appeared valuable, not one of my possessions, such as the fire seed. Even if the Pavilion was trustworthy, owning a treasure was a crime, so it needed to be clear that I was the treasure, not my possessions.

As Mei had taught me long ago, this meant that I needed to be properly dressed when I arrived at the Pavilion. While I could have used the few coins in my storage space to purchase something from a tailor, I didn’t know what would be appropriate. So, after ducking into a side alley, I turned to the System for help.

“System, I want to purchase robes that would be worn by a respectable Disciple Alchemist. They should be the robes of a young prodigy who is considered to have a bright future.”

Cost 1,000 credits.

That seemed outrageously expensive for a few pieces of clothing, but I had to put my trust in the System here. As I had found out, purchasing information could be incredibly expensive, and the System might be tacking on the price of information about what kind of clothing a young prodigy would normally wear.

Making my decision, I nodded. “Purchase it.”

Confirmed. Cost 1,000 credits. 549,270 credits remaining.

The robes appeared in the System storage, but I didn’t rush to put them on. Just by looking at them, I could tell they weren’t something that people in this part of town would normally wear. So, if I didn’t want to get mugged, it would probably be best to get somewhere a bit nicer before showing them off.

Also, it would probably be good if I found a place to bathe first.

The Blue Wind Pavilion was a massive, eight-story pagoda that stood on a large marble foundation. The exterior walls were painted a bright red. Azure tiled eaves stuck out at every floor, and brightly decorated blue beams at the top of the walls, under the eaves, tied everything together. At the corners of the roof, small statues of proud beasts had been placed as auspicious totems.

To someone standing on the street and staring up at it, the Blue Wind Pavilion’s presence was supreme. It towered over the small two- and three-story wooden buildings that surrounded it.

As I walked down the wide street that led straight to the Pavilion’s main entrance, I couldn’t help but admire the System-produced robes I was wearing. They were made from the finest silk that I had ever seen, and they were so lightweight that I could barely feel them on my skin.

The inner robe was pure white.

As for the outer robe, the torso, wrists, and ankles were pitch black, while the upper arms and legs were a light gray. Along the lower arms and legs, black on the wrists and ankles swirled about with the light gray to create an intricate flame motif, and strands of red and gold had been embroidered into the robe to enhance this effect. When the fabric shifted, these flames almost seemed to dance as sunlight sparkled off them.

However, more than just looking impressive, after a bit of investigation, I found that these strands of red and gold were actually formations that were designed to keep the robes clean and control their temperature.

I was the epitome of a young master. I looked like the master of all young masters. I walked down the street with complete confidence, knowing that no one would even think of stopping me, and I felt like a complete fraud.

I would never have even considered wearing such an ostentatious outfit on my own, and even though this was what the System had implied would be the normal dress for someone with my abilities, I still wasn’t comfortable in it. The only thing that kept me walking forward was knowing that, no matter what I was wearing, Mei would know how to handle it. In all my time in this world, she was the only person I had ever felt completely comfortable around.

Upon entering the Pavilion, I was greeted by the noise of countless customers browsing and shopping for goods. Large windows bathed the shop floor in light, and dozens of elaborate chandeliers holding small, glowing balls ensured that nothing was hidden by shadows.

Taken from NovelBin, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I looked around to see if I could find Mei, but as I was turning, a young woman dressed in the blue and silver qipao dress of a Pavilion attendant approached me.

She clasped her hands in front of herself and gave me a deep bow. “Hello, sir. My name is Ye SuYin. How may I help you today?”

SuYin was young and pretty, and her smile revealed dimpled cheeks. She was a little shorter than the other attendants, but since everyone was wearing the same qipao, everyone had on thick makeup, and everyone’s hair was fixed in the same elaborate bun with a jade hairpin and golden comb, it was hard to tell one attendant from the next.

I had wanted to speak with Mei, but as a budding, young, magnanimous alchemist, it would be wrong to simply turn this girl away. While I hadn’t yet cultivated the technique that would force me to be more personable, that was still the persona I wanted to embody.

I nodded politely at SuYin. “Hello, I would like to see your alchemic pills. Please show me what Rank 1 pills you offer and let me know their prices.”

Smiling, she gestured to the right side of the Pavilion. “This way, sir.”

She led me to rows of glass counters that held a wide variety of jade pill bottles.

“We have a variety of Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills available for immediate purchase. All of our pills are High-Purity and have an efficacy of over 90%, and for a small premium, we can guarantee that your pills will have an efficacy above 95%.”

“What types of pills are available?”

“We maintain a stock of all commonly requested pills, including Qi Gathering Pills, Purifying Pills, Healing Pills, Antidote Pills, Qi Empowerment Pills, and even Explosive Pills.”

As she talked, she gestured to various counters.

“If you are looking for something more unique or powerful, we can help you contract the services of either a Master or Grandmaster Alchemist. Even if the pill you request is exceedingly rare, as long as you provide us with the formula, as long as we have the herbs in stock, we can guarantee delivery of a High-Purity pill with a minimum efficacy of 90% within the day. Of course, this is only for any Rank 1 pills. We cannot guarantee a timeframe for higher-Rank pills. However, if the recipe uses especially rare ingredients, further negotiation may be required.”

“All of your pills are High-Purity?”

She gave me a confident smile. “Yes, and not just passable. Our Rank 1 pills are among the best High-Purity pills available.”

“Do you sell Perfect Pills?”

For the first time, SuYin became hesitant. “Perfect pills are exceedingly rare, and they are unavailable at this branch. If that is what you require, we can procure them for you, but they will need to be ordered from another branch. If you are willing to wait, they can be added to a standard delivery, but if you need them quickly, you will need to pay a substantial delivery fee.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. “What would be the cost of a High-Quality Rank 1 Basic Qi Gathering Pill?”

“The base price is 20 silver. If you want one with guaranteed higher efficacy, the price is 25.”

“And for a Perfect one?”

“The base price would be 50 silver, and it would have a guaranteed efficacy of at least 99%. However, again, we do not carry them in stock. Ordering them from another branch would require time and money, and most customers would consider the exchange unacceptable.”

“What if I do not lack money and am willing to wait?”

“We can accommodate you, but I would recommend that you purchase a more potent pill instead. We can guarantee the same efficacy on a Perfect Superior Qi Gathering Pill for two gold. Since you would be delayed anyway, this time could be used to prepare to absorb the more powerful pill.”

I nodded at her explanation. While she was trying to up-sell me, it did make sense.

“What are the prices for Purifying Pills?”

“The base price is 1 gold each with a 10% additional cost for higher guaranteed efficacy.”

“What if I sold you a High-Purity Water Qi Purifying pill at 95% efficacy? How much would you pay?”

SuYin seemed to have expected that question and quickly responded. “Our general price for buying pills is 35% of the profit plus the cost of ingredients. Such a pill would sell for 1 gold, and the cost of ingredients is 40 silver, so the standard purchase price is 61 silver, but that can fluctuate with availability and demand.”

It was interesting that she freely shared a solid calculation with me. In the past, I was just given a purchase price. I doubted she had a blessing like Mei’s, so was this just the effect of presenting myself as a respectable gentleman?

“Can you take me to see your herbs?”

She smiled and nodded. “This way, sir.”

I was guided to a nearby collection of shelves, and the moment I passed an invisible threshold, my nose was assaulted by the fragrance of countless herbs. Most of them were sitting openly in bins where customers could pick up and examine them, but some had been placed in sealed boxes, and a few were locked under a glass display case.

As expected, the Rank 1 herbs were all pretty standard. Since mortal farmers could easily harvest high-quality Rank 1 herbs, they held little value, and I had never seen any examples that had been improved by an herbalist.

The Rank 2 herbs were surprisingly high quality, though. The herbs that were on display were nearly the same quality as the Rank 1 herbs. Those held under lock and key, however, had an immense amount of medicinal energy stored within them, greater than any that I had ever seen before. It would be a joy to work with them.

I considered my situation. I didn’t have much money. While I always had the option of purchasing gold from the System, that would be a ludicrous waste of credits. Hopefully, what I had would be enough to get started, but I could also sell some of the pills in my storage space to gather more if needed.

Still, this entire encounter wasn’t going the way that I had initially hoped. I had planned to quickly get into contact with WuJing in a way where he would treat me as a friend. Maybe it didn’t matter too much—it was all an act anyway, and he would only be behaving as directed—but I longed for a feeling of camaraderie. Even if he was just trying to get something from me, he would at least know to act like that wasn’t the case.

I sighed and pondered my options as I continued to peruse the Pavilion’s herbs. After a few moments, I walked back over to SuYin.

“Could you please show me around a little more? What else do you offer?”

“Of course, sir. I can give you a tour.”

As she began to guide me away, another woman dressed in the same blue and silver qipao approached us.

She looked at the attendant who had been showing me around. “SuYin, let me take it from here.”

SuYin blinked, and her eyes opened wide. “M…Mei, but…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll receive proper credit and compensation, but I need to handle this.”

Then, Mei turned to me and grinned. “Welcome back to the Blue Wind Pavilion. Our manager, Chen WuJing, is eager to meet with you. Please, follow me.”

I smiled at Mei and nodded. “Sure. Let’s go.”