On the plus side, the Merchant was quite rich with spirit stones, gold and trade goods. Spirit Stones were the currency of Cultivators while gold was the currency of mortals. There was interplay between them, but the exchange rates were weird. Depending on where you went, you might find either a higher or lower demand for gold or spirit stones. The problem was spirit stones were consumable and completely useless to normal people while valuable to Cultivators. If a commoner got paid in Spirit Stones, he might be able to take them and exchange them for thousands of gold pieces per stone. On the other hand, he might just go missing. In this way, Spirit Stones and Gold were somewhat separate and it conversions were tricky. A Cultivator might take over an area filled with commoners and have millions of gold. Another Cultivator could have no need for gold and the trade ratio would be millions of gold for a single stone. In another place the opposite could happen. A nation could have a strong army, laws, and currency. The Cultivators there might find that spirit stones are only worth a hundred gold each, a price set by the nation.

With such strange conversion rules many merchants merely dealt in gold. Most of them just wanted to live lives of indulgence. Gold could buy them manors, women, expensive wine, and expensive clothes. Their only real need for spirit stones would be their own cultivation or to hire guards. Many guards would take gold as they also sought the good life, but others worked to get stronger and would only take their pay in spirit stones. Sage learned that the spirit stone to gold trade was somewhat like the stock market from earth. It was extremely complicated and many people lost or gained fortunes on a daily basis. There was different mints of coin for each country or even city, there was also different styles and denominations of spirit stones. Spirit stones were like gemstones filled with energy. They could have different cuts, shapes and sizes just like the rocks on jewelry. For the most part there was a uniform amount of energy for the basic denomination, but they still varied greatly depending on where you were at in the world and most places would only convert or trade in specific types. Sage found many different types of stones and gold coins in the Merchant’s hidden ring. He also found maps, trading contracts, and even a few deeds. Sage wasn’t sure if he could make use of any of these things, since that might tie him to the missing Merchant, but he had plenty of room in his storage ring so he held onto them.

The only downside was that Sage now had a whole pack full of empty storage bags. He had shifted them from his knapsack into one of the weight reducing backpacks from a porter. While these ‘Lifting Packs’ weren’t all that valuable, they were larger than his knapsack. He was carrying more than seventy empty storage bags so the Lifting Pack actually made a reasonable difference and he wouldn’t just throw away potential spirit stones.

Deciding not to pick a fight with that Young Hero for no reason, Sage continued on his journey, breaking away from the road and heading off into the wilderness. The road led to a city, one that was at the border of the Holy Flame Province, Red Knife City. Red Knife City was named after the Red Knife Pass that it guarded. The pass led to the Green Plateau Province, a strange place that rose hundreds of feet into the air creating a sheer cliff all around the ten thousand mile wide plateau. Each of the passes that led down from the top of the plateau were the border guards of the Green Plateau Province. They had a city at the top of the Plateau and the neighboring provinces built a city at the bottom of the plateau. It was a natural defense and the small size of the passes meant put the Green Plateau Province at a slight advantage because of height. At the same time, the narrow pass made it simple for either side to defend. As such, the pairs of cities that seemed antagonistic were actually the greatest trading partners. Each of the half-dozen cities was quite large as it was the filter point for all the goods in and out of the Green Plateau Province.

The Green Plateau Province was the headquarters of the Cult of the Woodlord, just like how the Holy Flame Province was the headquarters of the Holy Flame Sect. They were somewhat at odds with the Holy Flame Sect, so Sage did not want to take the chance of running into any Cult members. There was also the fact that he still hadn’t found a way to hide his unusual appearance. He had plenty of spirit stones right now and there was still a little bit of room left inside his Storage Ring so he didn’t need to sell the mound of trade goods immediately.

He continued on across a large hilly grassland before entering more forests, the Chameleon Mantis slowed him down, but made his travels very safe. Anytime anything cause sight of him they would drop down and continue on foot for a while, the visual camouflage effect took a few seconds to shift colors and blend in. Flying through the sky they were the same color as the blue sky or white clouds, but they were still far easier to see than when creeping through the undergrowth. Because of the slow speed, they were free to take their time and Sage found dozens of rare herbs and other spirit plants. Adding them to his collection in the storage ring, Sage had no problem with gathering more resources.

Truth be told, many of the resources Sage had within his ring had the ability to help raise his cultivation faster. The problem was that if they were taken directly and not refined into pills, they would lose efficiency and also weaken his foundation. Each pill would leave medicinal after effects in the body and when too many of them acculated it would make it even harder to improve while also diluting the effect of further medicines. Sage had already taken many different pills when he first joined the Holy Flame Sect. He trained as an Alchemist and used that knowledge to improve his cultivation. It was only through the help of the Sunfire Pagoda that he was able to cleanse much of the medicinal dregs trapped in his body and improve himself to the third rank.

As it was now, he was leery of consuming any cultivation resources without first researching them properly. In addition, his rank as an Alchemist was still too low to create higher level pills. He wanted to make the most use out of any pills he took so he was resolved to only consume the best pills his body could handle and not the 1 star resources he could concoct himself. His problem had originally happened because of all the things he’d ate and consumed through his early years at the Lang Clan, in the Back Mines, and traveling on the road as a caravan guard. He had been constantly taking anything that he thought would help him. When he first became an Alchemist he realized the mistake he made and had to spend years crafting Flesh Cleansing Pills to clear out the accumulated medicinal dregs. When that wasn’t enough he used the Sunfire Pagoda to finish the job and then again later to help cultivate faster.

If Sage’s problems could just be solved with pills and resources he would just stay in the Sect and work for contribution points. Instead, he knew that his only way to truly grow strong was keep searching for fortune. The normal routes could not help him, he would have to hunt and compete for ancient legacies, hidden caches, dangerous tombs, and buried treasures. His only hope was to persevere and try to push his luck. I’ve heard that Karmic Luck can grow greater and greater over time. Most of the famous heroes and personages aren’t just talented, they are blessed with good luck. Each lucky break can lead to another.

Finally, after nearly a month of travel, the Chameleon Mantis was standing in front of the Seal Master’s Cave once again.