Dual Realm Exchange System

Damian allowed the anticipation inside the second floor of his commercial tower to build for several moments before reaching into his Exchange Storage.

There was no particular reason for the delay.

He simply found the sight rather entertaining.

Mu Qingyao sat close to his side with a composed expression that fooled absolutely nobody who had seen how quickly she rushed into the room earlier, while Lan Ruyue maintained the tranquil smile expected from an experienced Elder of the Azure Water Sect.

Behind them, however, their respective disciples were considerably less subtle.

Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian had already forgotten about the refreshments whereas the five Azure Water Sect disciples were staring at Damian’s hands.

Damian finally removed three larger glass bottles filled with the familiar red, blue and green colors of his original potions.

"These are the first new products, although calling them completely new would be somewhat misleading. They are stronger versions of the Vials of Healing, Restoration and Vigor you’ve already seen," Damian explained.

Mu Qingyao’s eyes immediately sharpened.

"Stronger versions?" Mu Qingyao repeated.

"Much stronger. They’re called Draughts rather than Vials. Same general purpose, higher concentration and effectiveness."

That was enough for Mu Qingyao’s attention to practically lock onto the red bottle.

The weaker Vials of Healing had already produced meaningful results upon a Foundation Establishment cultivator despite suffering tremendous diminishing effects from the difference in power.

What could a stronger version accomplish?

Lan Ruyue reached the same conclusion from another direction.

She had not personally tested even the weaker products yet, but the Azure Water Sect possessed enough intelligence to know that the Evergreen Sect had treated the original shipment as strategic medicine rather than ordinary merchandise.

A superior version could potentially become something reserved for Qi Condensation cultivators or even their highest leadership.

Before either woman could speak, Damian pushed all three bottles toward Mu Qingyao.

"These aren’t for sale. I bought one Draught of each type specifically for you to test on your father."

Mu Qingyao froze, her fingers stopping halfway above the table.

"For... me?"

"Well, technically for your father," Damian corrected with amusement.

"But yes. I already knew the ordinary Vials were helping him despite their reduced effectiveness, so naturally, the next thing I wanted to know was whether a stronger tier would produce a better result." Damian admitted honestly.

Mu Qingyao slowly accepted the three bottles, and the warmth spreading through her chest had very little to do with monetary value.

Damian had disappeared for several days, going wherever his mysterious circumstances took him, conducted his own affairs, returned carrying a thousand potions, and negotiated with the Azure Water Sect almost immediately.

Yet somewhere during all of that, he had remembered her father’s condition closely enough to deliberately search for stronger medicine.

"Thank you, Lord Damian. I will remember this kindness," Mu Qingyao replied softly.

Damian waved one hand. "Just tell me exactly what happens after you use them. Good results, bad results, weird results. I need all of it."

Mu Qingyao smiled beautifully, a light shining in her soft emerald eyes enough to make any man’s heart race.

Lan Ruyue watched the exchange with considerably more interest than before.

Interesting, very interesting!

She had already noticed something from Mu Qingyao’s entrance.

The woman had practically flown into the tower, looked at Damian with unconcealed happiness, then immediately cooled upon discovering the Azure Water Sect delegation.

Now Damian was casually handing over apparently precious experimental medicines without asking for a single Spirit Stone.

More importantly, there was something subtly strange about the way Damian looked at Mu Qingyao.

It was neither reverence for a powerful cultivator nor the nervous admiration of a man to a high status woman.

It was also definitely not the cautious interest of some wandering cultivator wondering whether he might perhaps have a chance with a prestigious Elder’s daughter.

The man looked at Mu Qingyao with the relaxed confidence of someone admiring something beautiful he fully expected to possess eventually.

Lan Ruyue’s brows rose almost imperceptibly.

Oh?

Mu Qingyao herself did not seem to have noticed this ’arrogant’ gaze and neither, apparently, had Damian himself.

That somehow made it worse.

A faint and completely unreasonable thread of jealousy appeared within Lan Ruyue.

She had only met Damian today, so there was absolutely no reason she should care who received special treatment from him.

Still...

The Azure Water Sect received free samples whereas Mu Qingyao received specially selected gifts.

Those were very different things.

Lan Ruyue smiled sweetly.

"How fortunate Elder Mu is. Fellow Daoist Damian appears to remember the smallest details concerning the Evergreen Sect."

Mu Qingyao met her gaze.

"Lord Damian has always been exceptionally considerate toward those who treated him sincerely."

The words were perfectly polite, but the message beneath them was not.

Lan Ruyue’s smile remained gentle.

"Indeed. Then the Azure Water Sect should simply demonstrate equal sincerity with time."

Mu Qingyao’s smile became just as pleasant.

"I wish the Azure Water Sect great success in attempting that."

One of the younger Azure Water Sect women suddenly became extremely fascinated by her tea.

Lin Meiyu looked down as well, though mostly because she was afraid somebody might notice the smile trying to escape.

Damian glanced between the two Elders.

Eh... Were they arguing?

No, it didn’t seem so though, as every word had been polite.

Tsk, cultivators were strange!

He ignored it.

"The Draughts aren’t commercially available yet because I only acquired enough for testing. If the results justify importing them in quantity, I’ll establish a proper price later."

That declaration ended the first round before either woman could claim purchasing rights.

Damian reached into his Exchange Storage again.

This time, he produced a dark crimson potion.

"The next product is a Potion of Berserk. It’s an Uncommon-grade combat potion designed to push the user into an aggressive battle state and remove many normal mental restraints. The most interesting part is that the potion itself does not impose an inherent weakness period afterward."

Several expressions changed.

The scholarly Azure Water Sect disciple frowned thoughtfully.

"So the user temporarily abandons caution and hesitation without suffering a corresponding period of weakness?"

"Something along those lines," Damian confirmed.

"I haven’t personally tested it, which is why I’m not making claims beyond what I know."

Lan Ruyue immediately understood the military value.

A cultivator fighting desperately at a collapsing defensive line did not necessarily care whether their judgment became rougher if the alternative was death.

The Evergreen Sect possessed plenty of such battlefields, and so did the Azure Water Sect.

Mu Qingyao spoke first.

"The Evergreen Sect would be interested in purchasing an initial batch for controlled battlefield testing."

Lan Ruyue’s tranquil smile returned.

"The Azure Water Sect possesses considerably more active frontline positions at present. If Fellow Daoist Damian wishes to obtain useful combat data, perhaps allocating the first batch to us would produce broader results."

Mu Qingyao turned toward her.

"Elder Lan’s concern is unnecessary. The Evergreen Sect has fought the Nightmare Corpse Sect for five years. We possess sufficient battlefields upon which to test a combat medicine."

"Naturally. I was merely thinking of efficiency," Lan Ruyue replied gently. "The Azure Water Sect currently deploys more Qi Condensation cultivators along contested zones, so we could evaluate the potion across a wider range of circumstances."

"Then Elder Lan should be especially cautious about introducing an untested medicine to so many important cultivators," Mu Qingyao countered pleasantly. "The Evergreen Sect would be happy to bear the preliminary risk on behalf of our ally."

The delicate male disciple slowly lowered his cup.

Even he had stopped pretending this was about potion testing.

Damian rubbed his chin with a strange smile.

Demand was clearly healthy.

Good!

"I’ll sell the first batches in limited quantities to both sects once I secure a stable supply. I won’t grant exclusivity to either side, and I will determine the commercial price myself based primarily on available stock and how much demand remains after proper testing," Damian stated.

Both women immediately stopped.

There was little point fighting over a price that did not yet exist when the supplier had just declared the rules.

More importantly, Damian had learned from his first transactions.

When he entered Shengyuan, he lacked enough context to properly value his goods, so allowing buyers to suggest prices had been reasonable.

That stage was over.

He now understood enough about both markets to perform his own estimates.

He had no intention of gouging either sect merely because they were desperate, but neither would he sell an item for one Spirit Stone if ten buyers stood ready to pay twenty.

It was all about demand versus supply, simple.

Damian removed the next bottle.

Its liquid carried a vibrant green hue distinctly different from the Vial of Vigor.

"This is a Potion of Growth. Its purpose is accelerating and strengthening plant development and growth."

The reaction was quiet until the implications landed.

Lan Ruyue’s expression changed first, and Mu Qingyao followed barely a heartbeat later.

Spirit plants!

Medicinal herbs!

Cultivation agriculture!!

This could affect the sect ecosystems that depended upon plants that required years, decades or even centuries to mature!

"Does it work upon spiritual plants?" Mu Qingyao questioned immediately.

"I don’t know, and that’s one of the reasons I brought it here." Damian answered frankly.

Lan Ruyue leaned forward slightly. "If the effect remains upon medicinal plants containing Spiritual Energy, the value could be difficult to estimate."

"Exactly." Mu Qingyao nodded in agreement.

This time, neither Elder immediately made a purchasing demand as there were too many unknowns.

If the Potion of Growth only accelerated ordinary crops, it was useful.

If it shortened the development of spiritual herbs without damaging medicinal potency, the item entered an entirely different category.

Damian smiled. "Until we have proper testing, I’m treating this as an experimental resource rather than a commercial product. Once I know how much growth it produces, whether repeated doses stack, and whether spiritual plants retain their quality, I’ll calculate a price from there."

Both sect representatives reluctantly accepted that.

Then came the next potion.

The liquid looked almost disappointingly ordinary.

"This is a Potion of Comprehension. It temporarily improves learning and understanding."

Silence.

Damian had expected interest, but the reaction exceeded that.

One of Lan Ruyue’s disciples unconsciously sat straighter while the scholarly young man stared at the bottle as though Damian had placed a peerless scripture on the table.

Mu Qingyao’s eyes narrowed into slits, her pupils constricting greatly.

Cultivation was filled with bottlenecks that could not be solved merely by absorbing more Spiritual Energy.

Techniques, Daoist Arts, Alchemy, Arrays, Talismans and Artifact Refining all required comprehension.

Even an ordinary improvement to learning could save weeks or months when studying a difficult technique.

"I believe the Evergreen Sect should receive priority for this one," Mu Qingyao remarked calmly.

Lan Ruyue gave her a beautiful smile. "On what basis?"

"We encountered Lord Damian first."

"That is geography, not commercial reasoning."

"It became commercial reasoning when your delegation entered our commercial tower to purchase his goods."

"Then surely competition is healthy for commerce."

"Certainly. I merely hope the Azure Water Sect possesses enough Spirit Stones."

The five Azure Water Sect disciples collectively became very still while Shen Lian covered her mouth with one hand.

Lan Ruyue’s smile gained an edge. "Elder Mu need not worry. The Azure Water Sect’s finances remain quite healthy."

"How reassuring. The Evergreen Sect has always worried greatly about our ally’s wellbeing." Mu Qingyao responded with a kind smile.

Damian’s eyebrows climbed.

Well, well.

So this was definitely a fight!

A remarkably civilized one, admittedly, but the knives hidden inside those smiles could probably qualify as spiritual artifacts!

Damian tapped the bottle against the table. "No exclusivity. There will be limited quantities for both sides once I establish supply. This particular product will be priced higher relative to its grade because I expect demand to exceed supply by a significant margin."

Neither woman objected for now, as Damian was not overtly exploiting them.

He was simply reading the market correctly, and both knew it.

Then, he produced the final new item, a plain bottle of clear liquid.

Lan Ruyue looked mildly confused and Mu Qingyao did too.

"This is Basic Holy Water."

The word Holy translated strangely through Valoria’s adaptation, but Damian continued before anyone interrupted.

"It contains consecrated divine power. Its specific purpose is cleansing hostile, corrupted, profane and other nefarious supernatural energies. It does not directly heal injuries and it does not cure ordinary disease."

Nobody moved, and this time, there was no delayed calculation.

Every Shengyuan native in the room immediately thought of the same thing.

Corpse Qi!

Mu Qingyao’s hand tightened around the armrest whereas Lan Ruyue’s gentle expression vanished.

Even her disciples lost their composure.

"Lord Damian... does this water recognize Corpse Qi as one of those corrupted energies?" Mu Qingyao asked carefully.

"I haven’t tested it," Damian replied.

"But based upon everything I’ve observed about how divine power interacts with unnatural energies, I consider the possibility high enough that this was the main reason I brought it."

Mu Qingyao’s heartbeat accelerated while Lan Ruyue looked at the simple bottle as though it were a weapon.

A medicine that healed damage caused by the Nightmare Corpse Sect was already great, but a substance that directly cleansed the Corpse Qi itself?

That could overturn the war.

"The Azure Water Sect wishes to purchase every bottle Fellow Daoist Damian can provide," Lan Ruyue stated immediately.

Mu Qingyao’s gaze snapped toward her.

"So does the Evergreen Sect."

"The Azure Water Sect can offer a higher bulk purchase."

"The effect hasn’t even been confirmed."

"Then Elder Mu should have no reason to compete so fiercely."

"If Elder Lan believes that, she is welcome to withdraw."

Lan Ruyue chuckled. "I would rather not deprive Elder Mu of the excitement."

Mu Qingyao smiled coldly. "How thoughtful."

Damian almost wished he had popcorn.

Instead, he lifted the bottle.

"Neither of you is purchasing anything until I confirm the effect. If it works against Corpse Qi, I’ll establish a controlled selling price according to supply and strategic demand. Both sects will have access."

The two women finally quieted.

Damian looked across the bottles remaining on the table and felt reasonably satisfied.

He had entered Shengyuan with cheap potions and no idea what anything was worth.

Now two major sects were practically fencing with polite sentences for the right to purchase his second-generation imports.

Progress!

Damian began returning several experimental items to his Exchange Storage when his attention brushed against something buried beneath the recently recovered supplies.

He paused.

Right.

He had completely forgotten about that thing.

During his first buying spree in Valoria, he had purchased an old mana core for practically nothing because its energy had long since withered away.

Damian reached into storage and the Withered Mana Core appeared in his hand.

He turned the dull object between his fingers before casually placing it upon the table.

"Actually, I forgot about this thing the first time I came here. What do you two think—"

The sentence never finished.

Mu Qingyao shot to her feet so violently that her chair slammed backward whereas Lan Ruyue’s entire cultivation pressure erupted for a fraction of a second.

All five Azure Water Sect disciples stared at the object with expressions bordering on horror, while Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian went completely pale.

Damian froze with one hand still hovering above the table.

What the hell?

It was a dead mana core.

He had bought the damned thing for three Copper.

Why did everyone suddenly look like he had dropped a nuclear warhead between the teacups?

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