CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 63: THE HERB TRADER

Location: Dark Forest - Outer Ring Cave | Doha (Lower Realm)

Time: Day 398, Dawn

Dawn light painted the cave entrance in shades of copper and rose, but Jayde barely noticed. She sat cross-legged on her bedroll, surrounded by carefully bundled herbs that represented thirty days of opportunistic gathering. Red blossom lotus wrapped in cloth. Dragon grass tied in neat bundles. Moon thyme and fire lavender sorted by quality.

One hundred twenty-seven specimens. Collected between hunts, harvested from seven different clearings she’d mapped throughout the Outer Ring.

(All this work. Worth something, right?)

Resource inventory complete. Now, determine the optimal utilization strategy.

She’d been reviewing her supplies when the Divine Tome’s interface flickered to life unbidden—not the usual mission summary or combat analysis, but something new. Golden text scrolled across her vision with an almost eager quality.

NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRADE NETWORK

Contractor Level 1 Achievement Bonus

Market Access: ACTIVE

Available Exchanges: 847 Current Listings

Jayde blinked. Then read it again.

"Trade network?" she said aloud, voice echoing slightly in the cave’s stone confines. "What trade network?"

The interface responded immediately, expanding into a more detailed display that looked like... a marketplace. No, more than that. It looked like a Federation commodity exchange terminal, but built with Luminari technology.

╔═══════════════════════════════════════

║ STARFORGE NEXUS - TRADE NETWORK

╠═══════════════════════════════════════

║ Status: ACTIVE

║ Available Categories:

║ • Cultivation Materials

║ • Alchemical Ingredients

║ • Beast Materials

║ • Weapons & Equipment

║ • Skill Tokens

║ • Rare Resources

╠═══════════════════════════════════════

║ Your Inventory: 127 Herb Specimens

║ Estimated Value: 825-910 Points

║ Current Nexus Merits: 315.5

╚═══════════════════════════════════════

Fascinating. Economic infrastructure embedded in the artifact system. Federation commerce protocols would be applicable here.

(Wait. These herbs are actually worth something?)

Jayde selected "Alchemical Ingredients" and the display shifted, showing dozens of active trade requests. Buyers from different dimensions—different worlds—all looking for cultivation herbs.

[BUYER #2847 - Dimension 19]

Seeking: Red Blossom Lotus (High Quality)

Offering: 50 Points per specimen

Quantity Needed: 1-10

Note: Premium paid for fresh, undamaged petals

Fifty points per lotus. She had nine premium specimens that she’d harvested with surgical precision, keeping every petal intact.

Nine times fifty equals four and fifty hundred points.

Four hundred and fifty points equals forty-five Nexus Merits.

Just from flowers she’d picked while tracking shadowbeasts.

Economic analysis: This changes resource acquisition strategy significantly. Herbs represent a passive income stream supplementing active hunting. Risk-reward ratio is highly favorable.

(This is... this is huge.)

Jayde’s hands moved across the interface almost of their own accord, Federation training in logistics and supply chain management kicking in. She’d run economic projections for entire planetary campaigns. This was just smaller scale.

She selected the first red blossom lotus from her storage ring—a perfect specimen, crimson petals still faintly luminous even after three weeks of preservation. The Divine Tome provided a deposit slot that shimmered with faint golden light.

First transaction test. Minimal risk, verifiable outcome. Standard protocol.

(Here goes nothing.)

She placed the lotus in the slot. It vanished in a pulse of light, and the interface updated immediately.

TRADE INITIATED

Verifying Quality... CONFIRMED

Processing Exchange...

Three seconds. That’s all it took.

TRADE COMPLETE

Points Received: 50

Buyer Rating: ★★★★★

Transaction Record: VERIFIED

Fifty points materialized in her account like magic. Because it was magic—Luminari technology bridging dimensional barriers to enable commerce across reality itself.

Transaction successful. System reliability confirmed. Proceed with a larger volume.

(It actually worked. Oh gods, it actually worked.)

Jayde pulled up her full inventory assessment, mind racing through calculations. She’d been conservative with herb gathering, only taking what didn’t compromise future growth. But thirty days of opportunistic collection had added up.

Red blossom lotus: 8 premium specimens

Dragon grass bundles: 47 high-quality stalks

Moon thyme: 32 sprigs

Fire lavender: 40 blooms

The interface automatically scanned her storage ring when she requested it, cataloging everything with Luminari precision.

BULK TRADE RECOMMENDATION:

Red Blossom Lotus (8x): 400 points

Dragon Grass (47x): 282 points (6 points per bundle)

Moon Thyme (32x): 160 points (5 points per sprig)

Fire Lavender (40x): 120 points (3 points per bloom)

TOTAL POTENTIAL: 962 Points

CONVERSION: 96.2 Nexus Merits

Ninety-Six Merits, plus the five Merits she earned from the first test transaction, she could earn 101,2 Nexus Merits.

From herbs she’d gathered between fights.

This exceeds projections. Passive resource gathering generated equivalent value to seventeen Ashborn-tier beast kills or eight Sparkforged eliminations. The efficiency ratio is extraordinary.

(We’ve been leaving money growing on trees. Literally.)

But there was more. Jayde scrolled through the trade listings, tactical mind already strategizing. Different buyers offered different rates. Some wanted volume over quality. Others paid premium for specific preservation techniques. Some requested rare variants she’d seen marked on her map but hadn’t prioritized.

The market was deep. And she’d only scratched the surface of the Outer Ring’s herb resources.

"Execute bulk trade," she said, watching the interface process her decision. "All specimens, optimal buyer matching."

PROCESSING BULK TRADE...

The cave filled with brief flashes of golden light as herbs vanished from her storage ring in sequence. The Divine Tome worked quickly, matching each specimen to the best available buyer across multiple dimensions.

TRADE COMPLETE

Total Points Earned: 962

Total Merits Gained: 96.2

UPDATED STATUS:

Nexus Merits: 411.7

Four hundred and Eleven Merits.

Jayde sat back, staring at the number. A month ago, a year’s worth of training, and she’d had earned 315. Now, in just a month through a combination of hunting and what amounted to a fantasy-world foraging, she’d blown past that by nearly a hundred.

Strategic assessment: Optimal approach requires resource diversification. Combat provides immediate returns and cultivation experience. Herb gathering provides sustainable supplementary income with minimal risk exposure. Balanced approach maximizes total acquisition rate.

(So we don’t just hunt. We gather too.)

The Federation had taught her about logistics. About supply lines and resource management. About maximizing every advantage while minimizing waste. This was the same principle, just applied to a cultivation world instead of interstellar warfare.

Jayde pulled up her forest map, the hand-drawn parchment she’d been updating daily. Forty-seven herb locations marked throughout the Outer Ring. She’d visited seven, taking only conservative harvests.

But now?

Now she could plan proper expeditions. Dedicate specific days to herb collection instead of treating it as an afterthought. Map optimal routes that combined beast hunting territories with resource-rich clearings.

Calculate optimal resource allocation strategy.

She grabbed a piece of charcoal and began sketching on the map’s margins. If she spent two days hunting for every one day gathering, that would maintain her combat progression while building sustainable Merit flow. The herb patches regenerated on thirty-day cycles according to the Old Man’s journals. Harvest one-third each ten-day period, rotate between locations, never strip an area completely.

Sustainable resource management. The Federation had entire academies dedicated to planetary resource extraction without ecological collapse. Same principles applied here, just on smaller scale.

(This is actually kinda fun. Planning things out, making it all work together.)

Affirmative. Strategic planning utilizes our optimal skill sets. Combat effectiveness combined with logistical efficiency creates significant operational advantage.

Jayde smiled, feeling both aspects of her consciousness align in satisfaction. Child Jade loved puzzles and patterns. Federation Jayde loved operational planning and optimization. This combined both beautifully.

She updated her strategy document—another habit from military training. Always document your plans. Always track your assumptions. Always review your outcomes.

NEW STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:

Hunting Days (Days 1-2, 4-5, 7-8):

- Primary: Beast elimination for points and cultivation

- Secondary: Opportunistic herb collection during patrols

- Territory: Outer Ring familiar zones

- Risk Level: Moderate (managed through preparation)

Gathering Days (Days 3, 6, 9):

- Primary: Systematic herb collection from mapped locations

- Secondary: Territory expansion and new clearing discovery

- Focus: Sustainable harvesting, quality preservation

- Risk Level: Low (herb patches away from major beast territories)

Rest/Recovery (Day 10):

- Processing collected materials

- Trade execution and resource conversion

- Map updates and strategy refinement

- Equipment maintenance and supply restocking

Ten-day cycles. Balanced, sustainable, optimized for maximum Merit accumulation while maintaining combat readiness.

Economic projection: Assuming similar harvest rates, expect 70-90 Merits per ten-day cycle from herbs alone. Combined with hunting income, total accumulation rate increases by approximately sixty percent.

Sixty percent more Merits for the same time investment, just by adding organized gathering to her routine.

(And all those herb patches deeper in the forest... we haven’t even touched those yet.)

That thought made her pause. The map showed herb locations marked throughout the Outer Ring, but the truly valuable specimens—the rare variants the Old Man had noted in his journals—those grew in the Mid Ring. And beyond.

Red blossom lotus was common and valuable. But jade heart lilies? Void orchids? Dragon’s breath moss?

Those were rare. And they’d be worth significantly more than fifty points.

Risk assessment required before Mid Ring penetration. Current cultivation: Peak Flamewrought, ninety-nine percent progress. Estimated breakthrough to Inferno-tempered tier: one to two weeks. Recommendation: Advance tier before increasing danger exposure.

(But with four hundred Merits now...)

Jayde pulled up the Nexus Exchange catalog, reviewing equipment she’d been eyeing. Better armor. Enhanced detection talismans. Qi-restoration pills rated for higher tier cultivators.

With four hundred Merits, she could afford significant upgrades.

Upgrades that might make Mid Ring exploration survivable now, instead of waiting weeks for her cultivation advancement.

Tactical analysis: Equipment advantages versus cultivation tier advantage. Equipment provides immediate capability enhancement but requires Merit expenditure. Cultivation advancement provides permanent capability increase but requires time investment. Risk calculation complex.

(The deeper forest has better herbs. Better beasts. Better everything.)

"Display Mid Ring projection," she said to the Divine Tome.

The interface shifted, showing estimated point values for Mid Ring territory.

MID RING - ESTIMATED VALUES:

Flamewrought-tier beasts: 100 points (10 Merit per kill)

Inferno-tempered beasts: 250 points (25 Merits per kill)

Rare herbs: 100-500 points per specimen

Ancient beast materials: 1,000+ points for premium items

RISK ASSESSMENT: HIGH

Recommendation: Inferno-tempered cultivation minimum

Current Status: NOT RECOMMENDED

But recommendations weren’t orders. They were guidelines. And Jayde had spent sixty years in the Federation ignoring guidelines when tactical advantage justified the risk.

With proper equipment. With careful planning. With her tactical genius and Federation combat experience...

She could make it work.

Caution advised. High-risk, high-reward scenarios frequently result in casualties. However, your tactical analysis has proven superior to standard projections multiple times.

(We’ve survived worse odds.)

Jayde looked at the merit total: 411.7

Looked at the map showing deeper territories.

Looked at the equipment catalog showing gear that could bridge the gap between her current capabilities and Mid Ring demands.

The sensible choice was to wait. Advance her cultivation naturally. Take another two weeks, maybe three, then push deeper with full Inferno-tempered power.

The tactical choice...

The tactical choice required more information. She needed to scout the Mid Ring boundary. Assess actual threat levels versus theoretical projections. Identify high-value targets that could be engaged with acceptable risk parameters using enhanced equipment.

Standard reconnaissance protocol. Gather intelligence before commitment. Approved.

(Tomorrow we scout. See what’s actually out there.)

Jayde pulled her bedroll closer, settling in for a few hours of sleep before the day’s activities began. But her mind kept working, calculating routes and contingencies.

Four hundred Merits. Thirty days of forest experience. Peak Flamewrought cultivation with Inferno-tempered breakthrough imminent.

The Outer Ring had been her training ground. She’d learned its patterns, its dangers, its resources. She’d become comfortable here.

But comfort was dangerous. Comfort led to complacency. The Federation had taught her that.

Growth required pushing boundaries. Testing limits. Accepting calculated risks in pursuit of strategic advantage.

The Mid Ring waited. And somewhere beyond that, the Deep territories. The Heart of the forest, where the truly legendary treasures lay hidden.

She wasn’t ready for those yet. Maybe not for months or years.

But the Mid Ring?

With the right equipment and careful planning?

Mission parameters: Reconnaissance of Mid Ring boundary. Assessment of threat levels and resource opportunities. Zero engagement unless targets of opportunity present with acceptable risk profiles.

(Let’s see what we’re actually dealing with.)

Jayde closed her eyes, letting sleep take her. Tomorrow would bring new challenges. New decisions. New opportunities.

The herb trader had revealed a whole new dimension to her forest strategy.

And the ambitious hunter wanted to know what other surprises waited deeper in the ancient shadows.