159: The difficulty of survival

The summary of local customs and geography recorded in the second Jade Slip was far more complex than the first.

The overall impression Zhang Sheng had of the Song Kingdom was that it was quite similar to ancient China, with highly centralized imperial power that stood above all else.

The Empire was divided into Great Provinces, and beneath the Great Provinces were Commandery Cities.

The Commandery Cities directly governed the New Prefectures, such as Hua Prefecture.

However, the Song Kingdom did not only contain New Prefectures; it was also home to several powerful forces that had migrated from the Central Domains.

The Jade Slip recorded that this land was once a wild territory where desolate beasts ran rampant. After a brutal war of expansion where the vast majority of desolate beasts were exterminated, it was selected as the landing site for the New Prefectures.

Although there were still scattered desolate beasts appearing, it was generally quite safe.

Within the Song Kingdom, besides the deep-rooted imperial system, there were also numerous Sects standing tall.

These Sects had complex backgrounds: some were branches from other Great Domains, some were local Song Kingdom Legacies, and many were even founded by people from former New Prefectures.

In addition, large-scale forces like the 'Youyuan Chamber of Commerce' were not few in number... The golden signboard of the 'Youyuan Chamber of Commerce' already hung high upon an ancient pavilion.

Zhang Sheng stepped inside, his primary task being to exchange some spirit crystals.

“Prefect Zhang, please come in!” the maid Xiao Qing greeted him with a respectful bow.

“Xiao Qing, I want to exchange for some spirit crystals. Besides spirit pearls, I wonder what other items your shop accepts?” Zhang Sheng asked.

The Chamber of Commerce's shops functioned as both sales and pawn shops.

“Prefect Zhang, we have both a sales catalog and a purchase catalog, but viewing them requires a payment of one hundred spirit crystals,” Xiao Qing stated frankly... Zhang Sheng was momentarily speechless.

One hundred spirit crystals just for a catalog? This was practically daylight robbery!

He suppressed his internal complaints and said, “Then let's exchange some spirit crystals first.”

The thirty billion spirit pearls in his storage ring were almost untouched. Zhang Sheng decided to exchange them all, ultimately receiving only three hundred thousand spirit crystals. After paying one hundred spirit crystals to acquire the catalog, he began to browse through it carefully.

The catalog detailed the primary items the Youyuan Chamber of Commerce purchased and the goods it sold to the public.

Among the purchase items, first-rank items were rare and the prices were shockingly low.

Various spirit plants and spirit materials were often measured in 'cubic units'; ten or even a hundred cubic units might not even fetch a single spirit crystal.

However, one item caught Zhang Sheng's eye: supreme-grade first-rank Medicinal Pills could actually sell for a decent price!

The purchase price for one supreme-grade qi gathering pill was one spirit crystal, while the selling price was ten spirit crystals for only eight pills.

As for Medicinal Pills below supreme-grade, the Chamber of Commerce didn't accept them at all.

But in the entire Hua Prefecture, how many people could refine supreme-grade Medicinal Pills?

Another valuable item was Cultivation Technique Jade Slips, but the Chamber only accepted 'Top-tier Jade Slips'.

This 'Top-tier' did not refer to the grade of the Cultivation Technique or Spell itself, but rather the production quality of the Jade Slip—it had to be a Jade Slip produced by someone who had Cultivated the corresponding Spell or Cultivation Technique to the Perfected State, pouring their full effort into it.

A Top-tier Jade Slip for the first-rank Fireball Technique could reach a purchase price of thirty spirit crystals!

Similarly, anything other than Top-tier Jade Slips was rejected without exception.

Jade Slips made by ordinary Cultivators had no market; only Top-tier Jade Slips made by those at the Perfected State could be turned into cash.

Looking across all of Hua Prefecture, besides Zhang Sheng himself, although more people were reaching the 'Transcendent' level in Spells and techniques, he had yet to find a second person who had reached the 'Perfected State'!

One could see how difficult it was to profit from selling Jade Slips.

In the catalog, the second-rank cultivation resources required for the Divine Breath Realm were generally over ten times more expensive than first-rank ones, and the varieties were much more diverse.

Zhang Sheng had long known from Su Tang's Jade Slip that Divine Breath Realm Cultivators were the lowest and most numerous group in the cultivation world.

The fundamental reason was that they were limited by their Talent and could not give birth to Divine Sense. Their path of cultivation was severed, leaving them trapped in the Divine Breath Realm for their entire lives.

Once their three-hundred-year Lifespan was exhausted, they would eventually turn to dust.

Therefore, the demand for Divine Breath Realm cultivation resources was massive and the categories were complex.

The items sold by the Chamber of Commerce were a dazzling array: Cultivation Techniques, Spell Jade Slips, Medicinal Pills, Spiritual Artifacts, Talismans, Formation Plates... they had everything.

There were even methods for condensing a True Embryo, but the prices were outrageously expensive; any random one was priced at a million spirit crystals!

Xiao Qing spoke bluntly, saying these were only the most common Yellow-Grade Embryo Condensation methods.

Above them were Profound-Grade, Earth-Grade, and Heaven-Grade Embryo Condensation methods.

The Embryo Condensation method was an essential technique for breaking through to the True Fetus Realm. It was a third-rank item and was also a chasm that blocked countless Divine Breath Realm Cultivators!

Not just the Embryo Condensation methods, but first and second-rank Spells and Cultivation Techniques were also divided into the four grades of Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.

Zhang Sheng spent another hundred spirit crystals to buy a Jade Slip specifically for distinguishing the grades of Cultivation Techniques and Spells.

It recorded various Spells and Cultivation Techniques collected by the Youyuan Chamber of Commerce and provided grade ratings for them.

This Youyuan Chamber of Commerce really knows how to do business!

Who knows how much wealth they rake in from the various New Prefectures every year! Zhang Sheng sighed inwardly.

Taking the Fireball Technique and Ice Blade Technique as examples, both were first-rank Yellow-Grade.

The Flame Manipulation Technique belonged to the second-rank Earth-Grade Spells.

And the grade of the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art was actually as high as Heaven-Grade! Its selling price was as high as twelve thousand spirit crystals, and its purchase price also reached ten thousand spirit crystals.

For a moment, Zhang Sheng even entertained the thought of refining these Jade Slips to earn spirit crystals.

But while spirit crystals were good, they were ultimately far less important than increasing his own cultivation and strength.

It was a pity Song Xian was only at the Transcendent stage; otherwise, he could have used the Clone to make money.

“Xiao Qing, why aren't there any cultivation resources above the Divine Power Realm for sale here?” Zhang Sheng noticed that the items for sale only went up to the third rank, corresponding to the True Fetus Realm and Divine Power Realm.

Xiao Qing explained: “Prefect Zhang, the sales authorization for the New Prefecture branch is at most third-rank. If the Prefect breaks through to a higher Realm in the future, the authorization of this shop will naturally increase along with it.”

Zhang Sheng realized: So it's because my own Realm is too low and my clearance isn't high enough.

He quickly scanned the directory: Talismans and Medicinal Pills, he didn't need for now; things like Spirit Gathering Formation Plates weren't essential either.

In the end, Zhang Sheng chose to buy two second-rank Spirit Refining Jade Slips: one Earth-Grade and one Heaven-Grade, of the same level as the Thousand Silks Soul Forging Art.

Spirit Refining methods were expensive, costing a total of over fifty thousand spirit crystals.

As for Spiritual Artifacts, he already had the supreme-grade second-rank dragon horn crushing gold spear; ordinary goods weren't of much use.

He simply spent thirty thousand spirit crystals to purchase three Low Grade second-rank storage rings, each with an internal space of a thousand square meters.

As for the methods he had mastered before, like the Concentration Technique, their grades were only Yellow or Profound.

Zhang Sheng had already mastered many types of second-rank Spells, but he lacked rare attributes, especially time and space-related Spells.

There was a common saying that 'If Time does not appear, Space is King,' but in the Chamber of Commerce's catalog, he couldn't find even a single related Spell!

Fortunately, Zhang Sheng remembered that he had obtained a second-rank space Spell in the Secret Realm—the Void Splitting Finger.

When he subconsciously sank into his Sea of Consciousness to check his talent panel, an unbelievable sight appeared before his eyes:

“Once Certified, Forever Certified · Eternal Unique · Limit Breaking”

... “Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Circulation Method · First Rank (Perfected State: 100%)

“Cultivation Technique: Profound Spider Thought Weaving Art · Second Rank (Perfected State: 100.01%)”

... “Spell: Flight Technique · First Rank (Perfected State: 100.02%)”

“Spell: Profound Light Shield · Second Rank (Perfected State: 100.001%)”