Chapter 90: People from the Transport Guild Arrive

"I keep my word, but you must not act recklessly. Behave yourself!" Wei Yuning warned.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother, I know my limits!" Qing Chou, having achieved his goal, said with a grin.

After parting with Qing Chou, Wei Yuning left Hundred Springs Peak and headed for the Secret Medicine Pavilion on Guest Arrival Peak.

As soon as he entered the shop, Hai Yan came up to greet him with a beaming chest and said, "Senior Brother, the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union has sent people again. Seeing you weren't here, they left a divine sense message."

Wei Yuning thought to himself, "What a coincidence—I was just thinking of contacting them!"

By bird messenger, before long, a tall and thin middle-aged man arrived at the shop. His body was gaunt, yet his face had flesh on it, and his round eyes were full of spirit, as if perpetually carrying a hint of a smile.

The moment this person entered the door, Wei Yuning smelled a strange greasy odor. With his guard up, Wei Yuning examined this person carefully and, from deep within his eyes, detected a trace of familiarity.

This fellow seemed to have cultivated a technique similar to a female cultivator's charm art. For a grown man to practice such a technique, the answer was all but obvious.

This was a flower-plucking thief.

Although it was only a guess, Wei Yuning was already ninety-nine percent certain in his heart. Within range, his spiritual perception was extremely accurate—especially toward those whose cultivation was comparable to or lower than his own.

Upon seeing Wei Yuning, he first bowed respectfully, then introduced himself: "This humble one is Nie Ziqing, Hall Master of the Flying Fish Hall of the Sea King Gang. Greetings, Lord Yuning!"

"Oh, and then?" Wei Yuning asked.

This was Wei Yuning's one shortcoming—just as Great Jade Sect Leader had said, he hated evil like an enemy, loved and hated with clear distinction, and never gave bad people face.

"…What 'and then'?" Nie Ziqing asked in confusion.

He thought to himself: I've finished introducing myself—shouldn't you introduce yourself next? Why is this person so rude?

"Of course I mean what business do you have?" Wei Yuning said, glancing at the female cultivator nearby who had pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Flower-plucking thief, flower-plucking thief—please don't pluck the two flowers in my shop!" His heart was filled with vigilance.

Among the large shops in Tingfeng Pavilion, very few used Foundation Establishment cultivators as shop assistants; mortals made up the majority, and unestablished cultivators accounted for the other half. In terms of looks, Xue Ying and Hai Yan were both above average, and being proper Foundation Establishment cultivators to boot, their bearing was a cut above. In this row of shops, they were absolutely standouts.

"It is like this, Lord Yuning. Following Alliance Leader Xue's instructions, the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union is to set up an official transport point outside the Cloud Concealment Sect's Guest Arrival Peak villa. And the sole representative of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union within a hundred-li radius of the Cloud Concealment Sect is you, Lord Yuning. The Sea King Gang is the only transport guild cooperating with the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union on Bixi Island. Therefore, regarding what points to note in the transportation, we ask that Lord Yuning give us a few pointers!" Nie Ziqing said.

Wei Yuning set aside his disdain and took a couple more looks at Nie Ziqing, thinking: "This man is neither servile nor overbearing. No wonder he can serve as a gang's hall master—he has the bearing of a great general!"

"I have no objections. Hall Master Nie can decide all transportation matters on his own, as long as you follow the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union's established precedents. I do have two questions to ask. First, how should this jade token be used? Second, I wish to purchase wood essence—does Hall Master Nie have any relevant information?" Wei Yuning decided to communicate with Nie Ziqing normally for now.

"This… is Lord Yuning not joking?" Nie Ziqing said with a complex expression.

"Absolutely not a joke. Alliance Leader Xue was angered away by me, and she doesn't want to explain to me how to use the jade token," Wei Yuning said calmly.

"What? You… Lord Yuning, your nerve is truly great!" Nie Ziqing broke out in cold sweat.

Alliance Leader Xue was usually decisive in killing, noble and coldly elegant. Yet the fellow before him had actually provoked the Alliance Leader's anger and survived, and hadn't even had his membership jade token revoked—this was truly seeing a ghost!

Although this was the Cloud Concealment Sect's territory, Alliance Leader Xue came from the Thousand Cold Sect, the number one great sect of Ice Snow Island, far beyond what the Cloud Concealment Sect could compare to.

Just now he had been a bit angry because of Wei Yuning's arrogance toward him, but thinking about what Alliance Leader Xue had endured, his own little grievance was nothing!

"Did I?"

"No, no, I was just speaking casually. Since Lord Yuning has asked, I will explain it for you," Nie Ziqing said hastily.

The dragon ship jade token was the membership status symbol of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union, and the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union was the South Pole Sea's number one commerce union, with business ties to thousands of large islands. Bixi Island was a mid-sized island.

For thousands of years, the Cloud Concealment Sect had rarely interacted with outside sects, neither buying nor selling anything, so the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union had never established commercial ties here.

Only in recent decades had the Cloud Concealment Sect slowly begun to communicate with the outside world, starting to sell some pills and artifact-refining materials to scattered cultivators and the mortal world, though it had never had any high-value specialty products for sale.

It was only recently, when a vial of Ten-Mile Fragrance circulated to the Bixi Island Immortal Sect Dao-Dharma Exchange Conference, that it caused a sensation. Alliance Leader Xue of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union only then came to the Cloud Concealment Sect.

"I originally thought Alliance Leader Xue would only upgrade your esteemed shop to a Hundred Alliance Commerce Union partner merchant. I never expected that she would actually set up a point here, and introduce you, Lord Yuning, into the commerce union—truly unexpected!" Nie Ziqing exclaimed with a sigh.

Afterward, he introduced the jade token's uses once more.

The dragon ship jade token was a high-grade talisman item. Within it were a spirit-gathering array, a voice-transmission array, and a positioning array, and anyone could activate it through divine sense. However, during each transaction, the user had to verify their identity with their superiors and the transport guild. Even if someone with ulterior motives impersonated the holder, they could at most obtain a bit of information, and the original holder need not worry about any losses.

Once the jade token was activated, the voice-transmission array could receive messages sent by the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union to the jade token. Among these, besides the public information provided by the commerce union, it could also receive information designated by the jade token's holder. For example, one could inquire about the selling price of a certain pill among the thousands of islands of the South Pole Sea.

High-ranking members of the commerce union could see the locations of members one rank below them. For example, Alliance Leader Xue could see Wei Yuning's location, while Wei Yuning could see the locations of subordinate partner merchants.

"Wood essence is a rare treasure among heavenly and earthly treasures. Whenever it appears in the Hundred Alliance Commerce Union's circles, it is immediately bought up. Even if there is no customer for a time, the commerce union will immediately snap it up, either for its own use or to resell at a higher price. No matter how it is handled, it is a guaranteed profit with no loss. So, if Lord Yuning wishes to purchase wood essence through normal channels, I advise you not to waste your effort!" It was only at the very end that Nie Ziqing leisurely answered the second question.

Wei Yuning furrowed his brow and asked, "From what you say, do you have an abnormal channel?"

Nie Ziqing chuckled and said, "Lord Yuning is indeed clever and sharp-witted. That is indeed the case. As it happens, I know of a place where there is a stalk of wood essence, less than two hundred li from the Cloud Concealment Sect!"