Volume One, Chapter 15: Chang Le Trading Company

“Boss, do you have safflower, white poria, and green rattan vine here?”

Entering an herbal shop, Lin Xuan glanced around at the interior before addressing the elderly man seated in a rosewood lounge chair nearby.

At the sound of his voice, the old man’s eyes slowly opened. Struggling to rise from the chair, he then shuffled over to the medicine cabinet.

“How much do you need?”

The elder took out some white poria, safflower, and green rattan vine, showing Lin Xuan the quality.

But Lin Xuan knew nothing about these herbs; disregarding the quality, he directly asked for enough to make a thousand doses of healing medicine.

The old man was momentarily stunned by the large quantity, then a broad smile spread across his face. "Sir, we don’t have enough here. I’ll go to the back courtyard to get more for you!"

When the old man returned carrying three bags, Lin Xuan paid over three hundred silver coins without a blink.

“Liu Jie, take these materials and wait for us at the city gate. Fei Shang and I will do a bit more shopping.”

After leaving the herbal shop, Lin Xuan handed all the herbs to Liu Jie and then, accompanied by Jiang Fei Shang, headed toward the largest merchant guild in Jiyin City.

On his previous two visits to Jiyin City, Lin Xuan had browsed that guild, which held many fine goods.

However, at those times, he had no money and could only look.

But this time, his virtual panel displayed over a million copper coins (he had yet to pay Meng Jin for the maid), so naturally, he wanted to explore the guild again.

“We’ve arrived!”

After about ten minutes, Lin Xuan and Jiang Fei Shang stood before the entrance of the “Chang Le” guild.

The guild was massive, stretching half a street, opposite the largest tavern in Jiyin City.

They entered and headed straight for the second floor.

“Common-tier equipment—long knife forging blueprint, three gold coins, purchased!”

“Spirit-tier weapon—horse-slaying saber, thirty-seven gold coins, a bit pricey... but it’s for Fei Shang, bought!”

...

“Spirit-tier equipment—windbreaker spear forging blueprint, two hundred seventy gold coins! Too expensive, can’t afford it.”

Though the second floor had many goods, few were truly useful to Lin Xuan. Some items revealed information on the virtual panel, but most did not.

Lin Xuan focused mostly on those with available data.

“An egg? What’s this? Why is there an egg here?”

Suddenly, Lin Xuan noticed a bluish-green egg displayed on a nearby counter.

[Unknown Pet Egg]: Can be hatched

[Quality]: Unknown

[Note: Hatching a pet egg unlocks pet functionality.]

Reading this on the virtual panel, Lin Xuan was startled—another new feature!

“Ten gold coins for an unknown pet egg... well, new features must be unlocked!”

After some thought, Lin Xuan decided to buy the egg.

It didn’t matter what pet would hatch; he mainly wanted to see the new function unlocked by hatching a pet egg.

He cradled the egg and continued browsing the second floor.

After buying a common-tier equipment—curved bow forging blueprint, Lin Xuan glanced at the remaining 400,000 copper coins on his panel and decisively left.

“Two forging blueprints and a spirit-tier weapon—this will definitely boost the village’s overall strength.”

He looked down at the pet egg in his arms and murmured, “With my luck, the pet that hatches won’t have too bad a quality.”

Just then, he suddenly realized something, slapped his thigh, and muttered in frustration, “Damn it! I was only thinking about the new feature... How do I hatch this pet egg?”

Although the panel indicated the egg was hatchable, it gave no instructions on how to do so.

Lin Xuan began to regret the purchase—ten gold coins was a lot! If he had known, he wouldn’t have bought it. Instead, he could have spent that money training more soldiers before the upcoming novice trial, making it easier to handle.

The thought made him regret even more—ten gold coins was no small sum! How could he be so careless?

But unfortunately, there’s no remedy for regret.

“Village chief, what’s wrong?” Jiang Fei Shang looked at Lin Xuan, who was alternating between smiles, helpless expressions, and the urge to slap himself.

Lin Xuan shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. “Nothing, Fei Shang. Let’s go.”

Jiang Fei Shang nodded; since Lin Xuan said it was nothing, he would take it at face value.

The two headed toward the city gate to meet Liu Jie, then returned to Lin Family Village. As for Chen Zeyu and Adi, Lin Xuan had no intention of waiting for them.

This was no longer his old world; travel here was inconvenient. From Jiyin City to Chengyang City by carriage would take at least two days.

Including the return trip, Chen Zeyu and Adi would need four or five days to return. Waiting was impossible.

Back in Lin Family Village, Lin Xuan first sought out Wang Yan and Chu Ran, handing over the two new forging blueprints he had acquired.

Then he left the smithy and walked toward the clinic.

“Doctor Zhang, Doctor Chen, I’ve bought the herbs!”

Entering the clinic, Lin Xuan saw the two chatting and placed the herbs on the floor.

After instructing them to prepare several doses of healing medicine to treat the lightly injured soldiers, Lin Xuan stepped outside.

“Fei Shang, take this horse-slaying saber!”

More than half an hour later, inside the village chief’s hall, Lin Xuan saw Jiang Fei Shang carrying food and took out the spirit-tier horse-slaying saber from the virtual panel.

“Village chief, you should keep this for yourself!”

Jiang Fei Shang set down the food and stared, stunned, at the saber Lin Xuan handed over.

He had assumed that since it cost thirty-seven gold coins, Lin Xuan had bought it for himself.

Unexpectedly, it was meant for him!

“Fei Shang, have you forgotten? I promised that once I had good equipment, I would replace your spear.”

“Besides, with you here, I don’t need to go to the battlefield. Why would I need such fine equipment?”

“Only you deserve this fine blade! Only with you equipped can I feel truly secure.”

Saying this, Lin Xuan stood and pressed the saber into Jiang Fei Shang’s hands.

[Congratulations, your general Jiang Fei Shang’s loyalty has increased by 2 points. Current loyalty: 93 points.]